The Marauders
by EvelynWn
Summary: "Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs: Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present The Marauders! A story containing all seven of the Marauder's years at Hogwarts. As far as we know the only one of it's kind. We're currently trying to remember what we did during year 3. Naturally, Mr. Padfoot is not helping much.
1. The Hogwarts Express

Summery: The marauders years at Hogwarts. All seven years.

Some of the parts may seem not right compared to what the story said but I am trying to stay as close to it as possible. I am also hoping that I don't get them out of caractor, this is my first Harry Potter fic.

Disclaimer: Do I really need this? I own nothing but this story and a few OC characters. If I did Sirius wouldn't have died.

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Chapter 1

The Hogwarts Express

Sirius Black walked into the train station of platform 9 ¾ with his mother and little brother following him.

"I can't believe it." Walburga Black said as she looked around. "My oldest is finally going to Hogwarts. And before too long I'll get the letter telling me you've has been placed in Slytherin." She sounded excited, well, as excited as she ever got.

"You had better go on the train and find Bellatrix; she will introduce you to your new friends."

"Okay, Mum." Sirius replied kneeling a little so he was the same height as his little brother, though their height wasn't that different. "I'll miss you, Reggie."

"I'll miss you too, Si." Regulus replied, with a cute smile, and Sirius headed for the train. He looked back at them through a window his mother, now glaring at the Potter family, who was hugging their son goodbye, and Regulus was still waving at him.

"It's about time you got here." Sirius turned around and saw his cousin Bellatrix Black.

"Hello, Bella." She glared at no one in particular. Certainly not at him, as he was her favorite cousin, just as she was his.

"Follow me." She turned and left. Sirius followed obediently. They walked into an almost full compartment, and Bella made them give him a seat.

"Hello." Sirius greeted. A few of them nodded but most of them just ignored him. Sirius sighed, he didn't like people like this; he liked to be around happy people, like his brother. The people in this compartment were far from happy. Sirius looked at Bella.

"Where is Andy?" He asked her. Andromedia and Bellatrix were sisters, but the only similarities in them were their parents and their looks. Andromeda was a year older than Bella.

"In the back of the train. She likes to ride alone." Bella glared again, this time at the wall. If there was anyone Bella disliked more than her sister, Sirius didn't know them.

Sirius left the compartment without saying anymore. He stared at the ground as he walked. He was suddenly becoming very nervous. Sirius didn't know why, there was no doubt in his mind that he would be sorted into Slytherin, after all he was a Black and there has never been a Black that wasn't in Slytherin, but he was still nervous. He was interrupted from his thoughts when he ran into someone. He apologized from habit as he looked up. The boy he had run into was very familiar. Sirius recognized him immediately.

James Potter turned around and looked at him. They stared at each other for quite a while, Sirius was sure that Potter knew who he was. The hazel eyed boy reached into his pocket as if to grab his wand, but the hand never came out. Sirius looked to see who Potter had been talking to, he recognized the boy as Peter Pettigrew. The Blacks and Pettigrews knew each other, but weren't friends. Pettigrew apparently hadn't noticed Potter's distraction and continued to talk to him.

"I don't know what house I want to be in, I've thought about Ravenclaw but I don't think I'm smart enough for it. Maybe Hufflepuff would be nice. I really hope I'm not in Slytherin. Slytherins are mean."

Potter apparently didn't notice that Pettigrew was still talking, but his words got Sirius thinking. Mostly the phrase Slytherins are mean. No matter how much Sirius tried to deny it he couldn't help but realize that Peter was right. Almost all of the Slytherins Sirius had ever talked to, which was most of them, were mean to everyone who wasn't completely pure. Andromeda was the only exception he could find she was just as nice to a muggle as she was to a pureblood. It made Sirius wonder why he even wanted to be in Slytherin.

Potter realized Pettigrew was still talking to him and he moved to lead Pettigrew towards a compartment, but kept his eyes on Sirius the whole time with his hand still in his pocket.

"Potter." Sirius called and Potter turned his whole body to face him. Pettigrew suddenly realized that Potter wasn't paying attention to him anymore.

"What do you want Black?" Potter replied, he was obviously not very happy about talking to a Black.

"I have a question for you, Potter." Potter looked angrily at him, but did not leave, nor did he reply. "If you could choose what house you get placed in which would you choose?" He now looked confused.

"Gryffindor of course." Sirius was a little surprised to get a reply from him. "That is where my dad was placed."

Sirius thought about what Potter had just said and was instantly able to answer his own question as to why he wanted to be in Slytherin. Sirius realized that the only reason he wanted to be in Slytherin was because that was where his family had all been placed. He only wanted to be a Slytherin because that is what he was expected to be. Sirius didn't like this at all.

"Is your father the only reason you want to be in Gryffindor." The look on Potter's face told Sirius that he wasn't the only one who had never really thought about it.

"No." He said after some thought. "I want to be in Gryffindor because I like the traits of Gryffindors. Not because of my father. Can you say the same, Black?" He seemed confident of what he was saying.

"No" Sirius said softly. Potter didn't respond, he simply watched as Sirius walked right past him looking at the ground in thought.

Sirius headed for Andromeda's compartment. He was thinking very hard about something that may be considered treasonous to the Black family, but he needed someone that would listen and Andromeda was the only person Sirius could trust to keep it a secret. When he got to the last compartment he went in and was glad she liked to ride alone.

"Sirius, it's good to see you." Andromeda Black looked at the expression on his face and was quiet for a moment. "Sirius, what is wrong."

"I need to talk to you, but you need to promise not to tell anyone." She nodded.

"I promise, what is wrong?" Sirius ignored her question and began to pace.

"I don't want to be a Slytherin." Sirius said real fast. She opened her mouth to speak, but decided against it and let him continue.

"Pettigrew was right! They're cold, and just plain mean." He continued, she didn't ask what in the world a Pettigrew had to do with this.

"I don't want to end up like the others, I don't want to become what Bella is becoming, she's changed, Andy, I know she has, and everyone else thinks it's for the better, but I'm not so sure." Sirius continued, she finally decided to add to the conversation.

"I've noticed too, they all are. Mum says it's because they're growing up. And she she thinks I need to hurry up and do the same."

"But why?" He asked not understanding even his own motivations for hating muggles. "Are muggles and mudbloods really that different than I am?" He asked remaining quiet as Andy thought about her answer.

"In that they don't have magic and we do? Yes. In that we're all human and all feel pain and heartache? No."

Sirius thought about this for a second. "Why do we hate them?."

"I suppose it is because we are afraid of them. They are in general more intelligent than we are. Most of the things we have were invented by a muggle. This train for example, trains were invented by muggles, and wizards saw it and saw it's potential. Then used it to help us." Sirius was silent for a long time. He turned and looked out a window.

"What will mum do if I'm not in Slytherin?"

"You know what, Sirius? I have no idea. But I do know it won't be pleasant." She finally answered Sirius nodded and stared out the window the entire trip without saying another word.

* * *

James watched the direction that Black had gone. That question made no sense. Why did Black care why he wanted to be in Gryffindor. James looked at Peter with a confused look on his face. Peter just shrugged and found a compartment to stay in. There were two people already sitting there. James shook off his confusion and introduced himself.

"Hello, I'm James Potter." The two people looked at him. The girl shook his hand.

"Lily Evans." She introduced herself. James nodded and turned to the boy.

"Severus Snape." He said, but refused to shake James hand. They glared at each other for a while. James didn't know why, but he absolutely hated Snape. Something in his eyes told James not to trust him.

"James?" Peter's voice distracted James from Snape's glare

"Yeah, Peter?" James looked over to him.

"Are you okay?" James nodded and sat down trying hard not to glare at Snape.

As the train ride continued the three of them got to know each other better. Snape refused to talk to anyone but Evans. Even so, they learned from Evans that they lived near each other and they met in a park. After Evans explained what a park was they found out that she was muggleborn as well. Peter and Evans chatted while James and Snape hated each other more and more by the minute. James had completely pushed Black's strange behavior from his mind very quickly.

* * *

Remus Lupin was nothing short of terrified. He was sitting alone in one of the last compartments. It had only been two hours and he already missed his Mum and Dad so bad he worried that he might start crying. He had never felt so alone in his life. He had no friends and his parents were miles away and getting farther by the second, but that wasn't the main reason he was afraid. He was mostly afraid because tomorrow would be his first full moon away from home. It was terrifying. What if someone found out he was a werewolf and Dumbledore got fired because of it. Or worse, what if he bit someone. The thought of it had almost made Remus decide to stay at home and not go to Hogwarts.

But nothing could keep him away from the place he had dreamed about going since he'd found out he's a wizard. His dad had been so worried that Remus might not have been able to go to Hogwarts. The previous headmaster would never have let a werewolf in the school, and not just because it was dangerous to the students. Werewolves were hated by nearly everyone. Thankfully the previous headmaster retired and Dumbledore took over for him. Dumbledore was the only person Remus had met besides his parents that didn't hate him for merely being a half-breed.

It wasn't Remus' fault he had been bitten. It was bad enough that he had to go through the worst pain known to man once a month. He didn't need everyone to hate him because of it.

Remus pushed these thoughts from his mind and focused on more happy things. He was going to Hogwarts. He was going to learn from actual teachers not just his Mum. He was going to meet other people his own age and be treated just like a normal kid. No one here would even know he was a werewolf. Maybe he could even make a few friends.

Remus may have been terrified, but he was also very, very excited.

* * *

A/N) First off thanks for reading my story. This is the first chapter story I am posting. I'll try to upload them as fast as I can. I already have the first four chapters written. Hopefully this will be a very long story.

Second, I need ideas for pranks. I'm not a prankster my self, and my creativity when it comes to stuff like that is not very good so I will take as many suggestions as possible.

Edit (7/2013) Major changes. My writing skill has improved a lot since I wrote the fist chapter of this story. ^_^ Yayz. It got so bad that I couldn't stand to read the first few chapters anymore, so I'm editing them to better fit the rest of the story (as well as cannon.) Sirius' thought process in the last one as well as Andy's responses were kinda off kilter with cannon I think. Oh and I made his mom WAY too affectionate.


	2. The Sorting

Chapter 2

The Sorting

Sirius got out of the boat that he had ridden over the lake to Hogwarts. He was so glad to be out of that boat. He had been forced to ride with three girls. They had spent the entire ride staring at him like he was some kind of idol or something. He loved attention, but there is such a thing as too much attention.

He tried as hard as he could to blend into the crowd in an effort to lose them. Thankfully it worked. One of the teachers led them up to the castle where another teacher waited and then left.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." She told all of the first years. She was very tall with a pointed witch hat and black robe. Her hair was down and long, it reached the middle of her back. She also looked very young. No more than 25 years old. "My name is Professor McGonagall. Please follow me." They followed her down the entrance hall. Sirius decided it would be alright to ask a few questions.

"Professor?" Sirius got Professor McGonagall's attention. "What is down that hallway?" he asked pointing down a random hallway.

"A few of the classes, none of which you need to worry about now." She answered

"What about that way?" He said pointing again.

"The library."

"And that way?" Professor McGonagall had a flicker of annoyance in her eyes as she answered.

"The Gryffindor common room." Sirius nodded and was about to ask about a different hallway when someone else interrupted him.

"Not that you will ever need to go there, Black." A large amount of first years started laughing. Sirius turned to glare at who ever said that, but he couldn't figure out who it was so he ignored them.

"What about that hallway?" He continued asking her.

"More class rooms."

"What..." He started but Professor McGonagall interrupted him.

"I have an idea Black; since you seem so interested in where everything is I'll make you a deal. If you can make a map of the entire school by the end of the year I will instantly pass you in my class. If you are already passing I will give you 150 bonus points, how about that." He looked at her for a moment and replied.

"Deal." He smiled and stopped asking questions. She gave a sigh of relief. That had been a goal all along.

She turned to the rest of the first years. "That goes for all of you as well, but I must warn you that a map of Hogwarts has never been made before and many think it is impossible." Everyone seemed absolutely positive that making a map of the school was impossible, except for Sirius. He was determined; this map would guarantee him a passing score in at least one class.

Sirius didn't notice when they stopped and ran into a huge door. Everyone laughed at him and he didn't mind. He smiled and walked back to the other students. He liked to make people laugh, he didn't know why but he loved the sound of laughter. Maybe it was because it was something he rarely ever heard. He didn't leave home very much and the only one that ever laughed at his house was Reggie, and that was only when Sirius did something funny or stupid.

"Now if everyone is paying attention," she looked over at him with humor in her eyes and some more people laughed. "You are about to be sorted into your houses. Your house will become something like your family within Hogwarts. There are four houses they are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. I will come back when we are ready for you," She finished her speech and left.

Sirius heard whispers among the crowd. Most of the people were wondering how they would be sorted. One person said loudly that he heard from his brother that they would have to fight giant spiders. Sirius laughed.

"That isn't true." He told him. Everyone looked at him. "It's more like a troll." there were a few gasps and everyone looked terrified.

"They wouldn't make us fight a troll." Some girl from the back told him.

"Not fight a troll, no. Surviving is hard enough." More people looked scared and the girl didn't say anything. Sirius tried his hardest not to laugh. The truth was that all they had to do was try on some old hat, but seeing the looks on their faces was worth the lie.

Professor McGonagall came back in the room. "Now form a line and follow me." They did what she asked and they went into the Great Hall to Sirius' amusement everyone looked around for the troll. Instead there was only a very old wizard's hat. They stopped when they reached the front of the room. Suddenly that hat began to sing.

After the song ended everyone clapped, and the hat bowed to each house. The hat had told them that that all they had to do was put him on their head to be sorted. All of the first years glared at Sirius and he began laughing so hard that he could no longer breathe. They had actually believed that they had to fight a troll.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said Sirius stopped laughing the best he could just to hear his name called. He instantly straightened up and looked around he turned red and some people laughed. He was first. He was the first one that had to be sorted. Out of all the first years here not one of them had a last name that was before Black in alphabetical order. He growled and walked up to the stage.

As he walked to the stage his discomfort increased tenfold. Partly because the sorting was so close and partly because he didn't have any idea what house he wanted to be in. He sat down on the chair and the hat was placed on his head.

_I suppose my fate is up to you then Mr. Hat._ The hat laughed inside his head.

**Well well well, another Black, is it?**He winced at the label.

**Oh what's this, you don't want to be just another Black. Do you? You want to be your own person to stand out in a crowd for reasons besides just your family. Do you? Yes, you are much different than the others.** The hat paused for a moment.

**Let's see then. Where shall I put you? I would have to say Ravenclaw is out. You're not quite smart enough for that. Though you do have much talent. You are very loyal, but only to people. Your ideals can change quite easily. I see that they have already. You need proof that what you believe in is right. No Hufflepuff is definitely not for you either. **Sirius got more and more nervous by the second.

**Slytherin or Gryffindor. Hmmm this is much harder than I expected. You are not content to hide in the shadows and let someone else take the blame for your mistakes which is a trait rarely found in Slytherin, but with the right, or wrong as many would say, influence you could easily become that way. **Sirius didn't like how that sounded. That sounds like something a coward would do and he wasn't a coward.

**Oh really. Yes you would do well in Gryffindor, very well indeed. But are you brave enough for Gryffindor. Hmm yes that is a hard question. From your memories I cannot decide. I suppose there is only one way to find out is there. Choose Black. Choose Gryffindor or Slytherin.**

_What?_ Was the hat actually giving him a choice?

**I am leaving your fate in your own hands Black. Choose.**

Sirius thought about it for a moment he couldn't believe the hat was actually giving him a choice. It never gave anyone the choice, as far as he knew anyway. He closed his eyes and began to think.

_If I choose Slytherin..._

**Eventually you will become like them. You will become the perfect Slytherin.**

_But I don't want to be a perfect Slytherins. Pettigrew is right. Slytherins are jerks. But if I choose Gryffindor... My mother will hate me for the rest of my life._

**That is right.**

_If I choose Gryffindor than that proves that I am brave enough to face my mum's wrath for the next seven years. I can't think of anything scarier than that. If I choose Slytherin then it proves that I am willing to hide behind a shield so that I don't have to face her._

**Correct. You must choose between your mothers love and your beliefs. Choose between a life time of your own pain or a lifetime of causing other people pain. Choose Black.**

Sirius didn't think he could choose. Was he willing to give up everything he had just come to believe for his mother's love? He loved his mother to no end. He couldn't imagine what she would do if he was sorted into Gryffindor. It would take him a lifetime to choose. And to the people watching him it felt like it had taken a lifetime. Whispers had started around the hall and the teachers were starting to worry.

_I can't choose._

**Choose, Black.**

_I can't_

**Yes you can.**

Sirius suddenly realized he knew his choice all along. Even before the hat had given him a chance to choose. He knew where he would rather be. But knowing didn't make it any less hard.

* * *

Remus was really worried. He couldn't imagine that it would take this long to sort someone into a house. The way the hat sang he thought it would have been quick. Since this was a Black the hat was sorting, you'd think it would be easy. From the looks on the teachers' faces this was taking longer than they had expected it to also. Professor McGonagall walked closer to Black with a worried expression on her face. Then for the first time in like 5 minutes Black moved, he bowed his head to the floor and Remus saw a lone, solitary tear run from his eye as he mouthed the word Gryffindor. Remus was confused, what did that mean? The sorting hat smiled and yelled the name of Black's new house to the entire school. Everyone (except the muggleborns who didn't know that this was strange) froze when the hat yelled out.

"GRYFFINDOR"

Gryffindor, a Black was in Gryffindor. That was unheard of. Remus watched as Black slowly stood up, placed the hat back on the stool, and began walking over to the Gryffindor table. The room remained in a state of shock. Even the muggleborns were starting to notice now. Remus continued to watch Black as he passed by all of the Gryffindors that were still frozen and sat on the edge of the table in a large unoccupied area. To Remus he looked pitiful sitting there all alone with his head bowed so his hair covered his face.

Suddenly Professor McGonagall dropped the scroll that held every first year's name on it with a loud clatter that sounded like an explosion compared to the silence before, and everyone went suddenly active again. The Gryffindors cheered a little, more out of common courtesy than anything else, but the loudest sound though was the Slytherins' hisses. They obviously didn't like that a Black had been made a Gryffindor. Remus heard a bang on a table and turned to see Bellatrix Black fists tight with a look of pure hatred. Remus then knew exactly why Sirius Black had been so upset. By being in Gryffindor he had just left behind his entire family. He knew that the Black family hated Gryffindors, but wouldn't they be willing to put that hatred aside for one of their own family. The look on Bellatrix face gave him all the answer's he needed.

Remus looked back to Sirius and he didn't know if something in Black's posture had changed or if it was this new information that made Sirius look even more piteous.

"Lupin, Remus."

Remus heard his name. He hadn't even realized that the line had continued moving. He forgot about Black and walked up to the stage. He was now very nervous; he didn't like being the center of attention at all. When he sat on the stool, Professor McGonagall set the hat on his head without a word. There was silence for a second and then...

**Ohh, my first werewolf.**Remus jumped. If his legs hadn't been tightly wound around the legs of the stool he would have fallen to the ground.

_What? Who is there?_ Remus didn't like the idea of someone else being inside his head.

**I am the sorting hat of course.**

_Oh. I didn't know you could read my mind._

**How did you think I knew where to sort you then?**

_I never really thought about it._

**If that is the case, than Ravenclaw definitely not for you.**

_Crud._ The hat laughed inside Remus' head.

**But where shall I put you. Hmm definitely not Slytherin. No you are much too brave and loyal than that. Yes very loyal, but I don't think Hufflepuff is right for you either. Just like another student I had today your loyalty exceeds only to your friends, not as much for your opinions**_**. **_The hat was quiet for a moment.

"GRYFFINDOR" The hat surprised him with a very loud outburst, and this time Remus did fall. He knocked over the stool and everything.

"Ow" Remus got back up and Professor McGonagall helped him put the chair back up.

"Are you alright?" She asked looking very worried.

"Yes, I'm fine." Remus answered. _Great what a wonderful way to start the_ _year. _To Remus' surprise the hat laughed in his head again. He hadn't realized that he still had it on.

**Good luck.** He took the hat off, placed it back on the stool, and walked to the Gryffindor table. Remus began to worry about where to sit. The Gryffindors were cheering for him, but a lot of them looked very uncomfortable at the empty seats around them. Remus sighed; of course none of them would want him to sit next to them. Even if they didn't know he was a werewolf, there was still something inside that warned them that he was dangerous.

At the end of the table he could see Sirius Black. Black was clapping, but he didn't really look like he meant it. Though he had to give Black points for trying. Remus found himself getting closer and closer to him, and considered asking to sit next to him. He looked very alone. Remus decided to do it. What was the worst thing Black could do? Say no?

"D-Do you mind if I sit here?" Remus cursed himself for stuttering. To his surprise Black jumped. He obviously hadn't expected anyone to try and talk to him. Sirius stared at him for a moment and then smiled hugely and nodded.

"Sirius Black." He introduced himself.

"Remus Lupin." They shook hands and Sirius turned to watch the sorting, probably for the first time.

Remus didn't know why but he looked over to the Slytherin table. Or more specifically at Bellatrix Black who was glaring at him viciously. She didn't seem to want Sirius to have any friends at all. A girl two seats away from Bellatrix was staring at him also. But her stare wasn't mean. He recognized her as a Black, but didn't know her name. When she noticed that she caught his eye she didn't look away like most people who had been caught staring would have. She smiled at him and mouthed thank you to him. He blushed and looked away. He knew she was talking about him sitting with Sirius, but he hadn't done it for her.

Remus looked back to Sirius and somehow, he didn't look quite so pitiful anymore.

* * *

Peter was scared to death. It would be his turn soon. What if the hat put him in Slytherin? He would never survive in Slytherin. They would kill him before the end of the year. He was so scared that he wasn't paying attention to the sorting at all. He had watched Black get sorted for a few seconds, (just long enough to realize that Black had been lying about the trolls) and then went off in his own little world of worry. He had noticed though when the entire room went silent for quite a while, but Peter couldn't figure out why everyone was quiet and ignored it. Someone pushed him from behind and interrupted his thoughts.

"Pettigrew, please come up here." Professor McGonagall said very sternly.

"S-Sorry." Peter instantly turned red and hurried up to the stool. When he sat down Professor McGonagall placed the hat on his head.

**Hello Mr. Pettigrew**Peter heard a voice inside his head.

_H-Hello... Mr. Hat guy. _Peter stuttered inside his own head.

**Lets have a look to see where you belong... Hmm now this is a hard one... You don't seem to fit any of the qualities for any of the houses, do you? Not brave like a Gryffindor, nor cunning like a Slytherin. And you certainly aren't smart or loyal like the Ravenclaws, or Hufflepuffs respectively**_**.**_

A chilling thought came to Peter's mind, what if he couldn't be sorted at all? What if the hat just told him to go home now?

**Oh don't worry I will sort you into a house. Though you will most likely have much trouble fitting in. Hmm but where to put you. Certainly not Slytherin or Ravenclaw. No not anywhere near smart enough for either of them. Hufflepuff isn't a good choice either. I suppose you would be best in Gryffindor. Yes it seems you would. But a warning now, fitting in and making friends will prove most difficult for you, no matter where you go.**

Peter tried his best to ignore the hat's words and be happy when the hat yelled his new house.

"GRYFFINDOR"

Peter stood and gave the hat to Professor McGonagall she gave him a smile and nodded her congratulation. He looked over to James who also smiled and gave him thumbs up.

As Peter walked to the Gryffindor table, he thought about what the hat said. It was going to hard to make friends. But it was already hard to make friends. At least he had James. He and James had been friends since they were very young. Their mothers had been friends when they were in school so the two were practically raised with each other.

Peter sat down on the closest chair and was surprised to see two boys sitting right in front of him.

"Hi." One of them smiled widely at him. "I'm Sirius Black and this is Remus Lupin." Peter was shocked and quickly began to look around. Sirius laughed. "Don't worry you are at the right table." Remus began laughing also. Peter turned red.

"I'm Peter Pettigrew." He shook Sirius' hand but hesitated at Remus' hand, for some reason Peter was afraid of Remus. He couldn't figure out why. The kid looked like he couldn't fight his way out of a paper bag. He was very sickly and pale. Peter shook it off and shook Remus' hand as well. Then looked at him apologetically, but Remus just smiled, he didn't mind at all. He didn't even seem to think it was strange. Peter pushed these thoughts away and turned to watch the sorting.

Peter smiled; maybe it wouldn't be that hard to make friends after all.

* * *

James was really happy for Peter. He hadn't expected for Peter to end up in Gryffindor, actually he didn't think anyone had expected Peter to end up in Gryffindor. Everyone would be very surprised by this. James looked over to Peter and frowned, he didn't like that Peter was sitting next to a Black, even a Gryffindor Black. He was worried Black would try to hex him or something.

"Potter, James." James calmly walked up to the sorting hat. He wasn't nervous or scared at all. He remembered what Black had said to them before the sorting began and he laughed. Trolls... please, who besides a muggle born would fall for that, but they had actually believed him, it was hilarious. At least this Black has a sense of humor.

**Well... hello Potter**_**.**_ James was not at all surprised to hear the voice in his head.

_Hi, hat._ He greeted back.

**Strange group of students we have this year don't you agree?**

_Huh?_ The hat ignored his question.

**First a Black in Gryffindor. Next a werewolf...**

_Wait... werewolf. Did you just say werewolf?_ The hat ignored him again.

**Then a boy who didn't seem to fit into any house.**

_What about a werewolf? _James was still trying to get the hat to tell him more. It didn't work.

**And now you... I have never been able to sort someone so easily. No one fits the category of Gryffindor quite like you do.**

_Really! _James forgot completely about the werewolf, which was no doubt the hat's intention, and was very pleased with himself.

**Yes... You are almost as much a Gryffindor as Godric himself.**

_Sweet! _James was excited, to him that was the greatest compliment anyone could ever give him. The hat laughed inside his head.

"GRYFFINDOR" The hat yelled and James jumped up. He was beaming as he gave the hat to Professor McGonagall and walked to the Gryffindor table. He sat next to Peter and him and Black stared at each other for quite a while. Not glaring just staring. Peter looked at them both obviously worried that his friends wouldn't get along. A few of the other students noticed this as well; some of them looked like they were hoping for a fight to break out. Everyone knew the Blacks and the Potters hated each other. To everyone's surprise Black was the first to give a friendly smile and he reached out his hand for a handshake.

"I'm Sirius Black, but I bet you already knew that." James smiled back and shook his hand.

"James Potter, but I know you already knew that." They both laughed and Peter looked relieved. Sirius Pointed to Remus.

"This is Remus Lupin." Sirius looked over at Remus. "You don't mind that I'm introducing you instead of letting you do it yourself do you?" Remus gave a shy smile.

"I don't mind at all."

As soon as he looked at Remus, James was reminded of what the hat said. That it had sorted a werewolf. Remus scared him a little. This made no sense as the boy looked fragile and weak. James was absolutely sure that he could beat Remus up if it came to a fight. Still something told him to stay away from him.

James laughed and gave Remus a handshake. He was being silly, there was absolutely no way there was a werewolf in the school.

* * *

A/N) Yay they finally meet. ^_^

I'm still welcoming ideas!

Edit (7/2013) Spelling fixes and some minor changes. Let me know if you see anything that still needs fixed.


	3. Dumbledore

Chapter 3

Dumbledore

"If any of you know who it was that said I would never need to know were the Gryffindor common room was, I need to laugh in their face, so if any of you have any idea who it was I'd like to know." Sirius laughed along with James, Peter, and Remus. James managed to speak.

"Snape, it was Severus Snape." Sirius looked at him and laughed.

"I didn't... expect... anyone... to answer..." Sirius choked out in between laughter.

"Speaking of Snape," Remus had managed to control his laugher first, and was looking towards the sorting. Sirius laughed even harder he hadn't even realized the sorting was still going on.

They managed to look up in time to see Snape sit on the stool and Professor McGonagall put the sorting hat on him. It didn't take very long for the sorting hat to yell out.

"SLYTHERIN" Sirius growled. The others looked at him like they were going to burst out laughing again.

"What?" He noticed their looks.

"You sound exactly like a dog when you do that." Sirius' face turned red.

"Do not." From the way he sounded, it wasn't the first time someone had told him that. All of them, except Sirius of course, laughed. They continued to tease him until he decided to tease them back. They laughed and joked until a very loud voice interrupted them.

"If I could have everyone's attention please." Professor Dumbledore was standing in front of the teachers table and looking straight at the four of them. There was humor in his eyes, so he obviously didn't really mind, causing them to start laughing again. They quickly calmed down this time though.

"Thank you." His voice got quieter and the boys chuckled again, and he continued talking.

"Professor Albus Dumbledore." Sirius told them quietly. "My mom hates him." They all looked at him in shock.

"How can your mom hate him?"

"The same way she hates you and your family." Sirius shrugged.

"Oh ok." James completely understood.

"My mom loves him." Peter told them. "She thinks he is the greatest wizard in the world."

"My mom does too. She told me he is the most powerful wizard in the world and he is even nicer than he is strong." James obviously agreed with her.

"My mom thinks he is insane and needs to go to Azkaban." Sirius laughed. "In other words she is scared of him and he is the nicest person in the world." They all laughed, though quietly so no one would tell them off for not paying attention. After they calmed down and looked to Remus expecting him to join in. He laughed again.

"My mom is a muggle. If I wasn't going to this school she would never know he existed." They all laughed again. They calmed down enough to listen to Professor Dumbledore as quick as they could.

"As you all know this is my first year as headmaster of Hogwarts." He told them. Peter laughed.

"I didn't know." He whispered and they began laughing again.

"There may a few changes, but hopefully they will all be easy to adjust to. I would like to welcome all of our new students and introduce a few new staff. First of all is Professor McGonagall. She will be taking over my previous job as Transfiguration teacher and the head of the Gryffindor house." She stood up and bowed to everyone. "Also Professor Flitwick, he is going to be your new charms teacher." A very short man that had to stand on his chair just to see over the table bowed also. "Also this year I have felt the need to appoint a grounds keeper. Please welcome Rubeus Hagrid." Welcoming him was the last thing on their minds as he stood. Actually they wanted to scream, (but running was a close second.) He was HUGE. When he stood he knocked the teacher's table right over. He quickly bowed and helped set the table right again.

"Whoa." James eyes looked like they were going to bulge out of his head. "He is huge. He has to be a half-giant there is no other way for him to be so big."

"He is scary." Peter looked like he was going to run out the door at any time.

Sirius started clapping and everyone looked at him in shock. "What, we did that for the teachers."

"But they aren't half-giants."

"So?" James thought about that for a second. Then he started clapping too. Remus smiled and joined in quickly. It took Peter a little longer, but pretty soon everyone but the Slytherins were clapping Hagrid quickly went to tears.

"He is very emotional." Sirius observed.

"I like him. We should visit him sometime." Remus suggested after Dumbledore explained that he would be staying in a hut near the forest.

"Sounds like a plan to me." They all agreed though Peter didn't seem to like the idea as much as the others. Their quick acceptance of Hagrid made Remus feel hopeful. Maybe they wouldn't be so upset if they found out he was a werewolf. Remus stopped this train of thought before he could get too much hope. It was a stupid thing to hope for. Of course he wouldn't be accepted as their friend if they knew. No one would want to be friends with a werewolf.

"Now that the introductions are complete, I would like to mention a few rules." Sirius groaned. He didn't like rules. "I would like to remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is exactly that, forbidden. I do not suggest anyone go in there unless they have a death wish." Sirius laughed. "Also the Hogwarts caretaker would like me to tell you that magic is not allowed in the hallways, and that Dung bombs have been added to the list of things that are not aloud at the school. I believe the list is now at fifty items, though I have a feeling that that list may be rising quite a bit over the next seven years." To their surprise Dumbledore looked directly at them and smiled. Sirius turned red and looked away. Dumbledore knew Sirius was a troublemaker, but the other three had no idea why he was looking at them. "Also I would like to announce that a Womping Willow has been added to the Hogwarts grounds this year." There were mummers and whispers erupting throughout all of the grand hall. James was among them.

"What? Why would they plant a Womping Willow? Aren't those things dangerous?" Remus stared at his empty plate and didn't say a word.

"What is a Womping Willow?" Peter asked James.

"It is a tree that hits people." Peter looked shocked. Sirius laughed

"Sweet!" Peter and James looked at him. "Bet you two sickles I'll be the first one to touch the trunk." Their expressions turned to shock, but none of them expected Remus' reaction.

"Are you insane?" There was more anger than shock on his face.

"Probably, why?" He looked back to Remus

"You can't go anywhere near that tree."

"Why?" Sirius was confused.

"It will kill you!" Sirius laughed again.

"Will not."

"You are not going anywhere near that tree."

"But..."

"No!"

"Fine no tree." Sirius gave up and they continued to listen to Professor Dumbledore explain that a Womping Willow was dangerous and all students were expected to stay away from it.

"And most importantly of all welcome to Hogwarts I hope you have a wonderful year." Professor Dumbledore bowed and suddenly food appeared on all of the serving plates.

"Yeah!" Sirius exclaimed and filled his plate to the brim. James laughed and did the same, though his plate wasn't as full. Remus had never seen so much food in his entire life. It was amazing. There were foods that Remus didn't even know existed, and (with a little help from Sirius' teasing) he tried everything. Everything was delicious, even the things he normally didn't like. By the time they were supposed to leave the four were laughing so hard that the missed the prefects call to their dorms. They had to ask Professor McGonagall to show them the way to the Gryffindor tower. Remus was amazed that Sirius was so willing to tell someone he had no idea were he was going. He didn't seem like the type.

When they got to the tower they were ecstatic to find out that they had a dorm together and that there was only the four of them in the room. They stayed up for quite a while talking and laughing and then finally went to bed.

OOOOOOOOO

James woke the next morning to the sounds of laughing and a growl that was strangely dog like.

"Go away Peter, or I swear you will be hanging from a chandelier by the end of the day!" These words were supposed to scare them, but the way it was said just made the others laugh even more.

"Sirius get up." Remus hit him with a pillow and laughed as Sirius grabbed the pillow and flung it across the room.

"No!" James began to laugh also when Sirius hid under the covers.

"See, even James is up." Peter looked over to James and managed to pull off a Please-Help-Us look, though he was still laughing.

"Back off!" They laughed even harder. James decided to help.

"Sirius if you don't get up now then you won't have time to eat breakfast." Sirius opened his eyes for a minute. He seemed to be deliberating between staying in bed and eating. They both seemed to be very important to him.

"Not worth it." He ducked back under the covers. They all started laughing even harder.

"Professor McGonagall is handing out our class schedules this morning though." Remus reminded them. Sirius poked his head out.

"If I don't get my schedule do you think I can skip classes?" Everyone but Remus laughed, Remus couldn't figure out why anyone would want to skip classes.

"No Sirius, you will get your schedule sooner or later." James told him. Sirius huffed and got out of bed.

"Finally" Peter joked. Sirius ignored him.

"How much time do we have?" He asked heading for the bathroom.

"About 10 minutes." Sirius stopped and glared at Remus.

"Tell me you are kidding."

"If you would have woken up when we told you too. You would have half an hour." Remus smirked at him, and James and Peter laughed.

"That still isn't long enough!" They were all quiet as Sirius ran into the bathroom.

"How long do you need?" This sent James and Peter laughing again, pretty soon Remus joined in too.

After 20 minutes they were finally on their way to breakfast (they were ten minutes late because Sirius refused to leave without finishing his hair.)

"I need to warn you guys there is a pretty good chance my mom will send me a howler." Sirius told them

"What is a howler?" Peter looked confused. Remus answered for Sirius.

"A howler is a relatively new creation. It is a letter that allows the writer to say what they need to say in their actual voice, instead of just writing it in a letter. It also multiplies the volume of the voice of the writer by three. It is usually reserved for yelling at people, which is why it is called a howler." All three of them stared at him wordlessly. Remus turned red.

"What?" They stared at him for a few more seconds.

"Dude, I was just going to say a letter that yells at you." Remus turned even redder. James turned back to Sirius.

"Why would she send you a howler?" Sirius shrugged at James' question.

"Because I'm a Gryffindor." He acted as though it was a usual thing.

"So?"

"You can be very dense sometimes Peter." James laughed. "The Blacks hate Gryffindors... All of them." Sirius nodded.

"So they are going to hate you too." It wasn't a question. Peter looked very sad.

"Calm down, it doesn't bother me at all. If they can't accept me for who I am then I want nothing to do with them." Sirius smiled

"Yeah" Remus cheered finally getting over his embarrassment. They all laughed.

"Also I am under the suspicion that my mother is half banshee. So you may want to run as far away as you can as soon as you see it." Sirius smiled but this smile was a little more forced. They walked into the Great Hall and sat in the same spot they sat in last night. Remus could feel a routine beginning to form. Sirius instantly filled his plate with food.

"Pig." James looked at Sirius with laughter in his eyes and over dramatized disgust on his face. Sirius thankfully swallowed before answering.

"I know you are but what am I?" Peter spit the juice he had been drinking all over the table and began cracking up laughing. The rest of them laughed just as loud.

"That is disgusting!" The boys looked up to see a red haired girl giving Peter a dirty look. The black haired boy beside her smirked.

"Hello Evens." James greeted her, trying to be a polite as possible, although he still couldn't stop laughing. Sirius looked at them both, the nerve of these people interrupting like that, well he'd fix that.

"Eh, your Snape right?" the boy glared at him. All he'd done was ask a simple question, man this boy would be upset when the real fun started.

"What's it to you, Black?" He said the name like it was a dirty word, but Sirius could tell that Snape wasn't insulting his family but was insulting Sirius himself. Making it obvious that he didn't think Sirius deserved to be a Black. Sirius just smirked

"Thanks for the comment about me not being in Gryffindor yesterday." Snape was confused, actually they all were why was he thanking him. "All though it looks like you are the one who will never need to know where the Gryffindor common room is. It seems you didn't make it in to Gryffindor, but your friend here did." Snape glared even harder. The other boys laughed. "Too bad. I heard inter house relationships rarely ever work out for very long." he started laughing. Snape reached for his wand.

Before he even got his wand out of his pocket there were four wands pointed straight at him, but he pointed his wand back at them. Trying and failing to look brave.

"You're out numbered Snape, don't be stupid." They stared at each other for a moment. Evens was scared she really didn't want anyone to get hurt.

"Severus lets go..." She was interrupted by a loud voice.

"What is the meaning of this?" Professor McGonagall came up to them. Her face was red with anger and she held a murderous expression on her face. "What is going on here?" The boys looked at each other then James decided to be the good example and put his wand away.

"Nothing Professor, just a petty argument." He looked at the others trying to tell them to do the same. Following his example Remus and Peter both put their wands away as well. Though Sirius just stood there, not lowering his wand and glaring at Snape, as though he was daring him to try to hex any one of them.

"Sirius stop he isn't worth it." James tried knowing it was hopeless. The expression on Sirius' face made that perfectly clear.

"Black, Snape, lower your wands before I take them away from you!" Professor McGonagall walked closer to them.

"I will when he does." Sirius replied. The teacher sighed she understood why Black refused; he was worried that Snape would hex him while his protection was down. She didn't blame him that was how Blacks were raised; actually it was quite amazing that he hadn't cast a spell yet. She walked over beside them and lowered both of their wands at the same time.

"I do not want any fighting, do you understand me." Snape opened his mouth to speak but she silenced him with a hand. "I do not care whose fault it is or who started it. There will be no fighting while you are on Hogwarts grounds do you all understand me." James, Peter, and Remus nodded. Evens gave a 'Yes Professor.' Sirius and Snape just grunted in agreement still staring at each other. "As this is the first time I will not give you a detention but I will have to take away ten points from your houses each." Evens raised her hand. "No Evens that doesn't include you." She smiled at the teacher then glared at Sirius and the others and practically dragged Snape away.

"I am very disappointed with you boys." Professor McGonagall turned her eyes to them. "I expected better out of you. Especially you Potter. What would your mother say if I told her about this?"

"It wasn't our fault. He pulled out his wand on us; we were just trying to protect ourselves." James tried to convince her.

"You mean to tell me he pulled his wand out on you completely unprovoked." She clearly didn't believe him.

"I was the one that provoked him not them." Sirius turned back to the table. They looked at him with surprise; it wasn't like a Black to take the blame.

"Either way you are all at fault for this, end of discussion." She grabbed some papers out of her pocket. "Here are you class schedules." She handed them each one of the papers and turned to leave, but not before looking back. "I hope you pay closer attention to your classes than you did during last night's feast." She turned and walked off handing other Gryffindors their schedules. James, Sirius, and Peter started cracking up laughing again. Remus didn't.

Remus looked down at the paper sadly. It was his first full day at Hogwarts and he had already gotten into trouble. Luckily he didn't believe in omens because this would have been a bad one.

"Remus what is wrong?" The three were looking at him worriedly (though Sirius was doing it while eating.) Remus turned red and looked back down at the table. He shook his head trying to tell them he was fine. But they saw though it easily.

"You didn't get into trouble if that is what you're worried about." Sirius told him while mutilating his pancakes with his fork. James looked at him.

"What do you mean we didn't get in trouble? She just took 40 house points away from us."

"Big deal, I can make that up by answering a mere four questions in her class." Sirius rolled his eyes. The others looked at each other, he had a point. "You're not in trouble until you get a detention, and then it still isn't that big of a deal, all you have to do is spend one night doing something dumb. Like cleaning a room or something." He finally finished mutilating his pancake and started to eat it.

"Maybe for you." James looked at him with slight envy on his face. "But my mom would kill me if I got a detention." Sirius looked up at him.

"Really? Weird." Peter chuckled a bit.

"Actually Sirius, I think you're the one that fits the weird profile." Peter, James, and Remus laughed. Sirius joined in soon. Suddenly the noise of owls became very loud as hundreds of them filled the great hall with mail. One of them holding suspicious red letter landed right in front of the four. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Here we go, I suggest you cover your ears or run." He looked at them then took his own advice and was quickly on the other side of the room, James and Remus followed while Peter covered his ears. He saw no point in running, it was just a letter. At least until it exploded. Everyone screamed Gryffindor or Slytherin alike. The yelling was unlike anything they had ever heard. Even on the other side of the room they had to cover their ears. Remus was sure he was going to go deaf.

It took awhile before you could actually understand individual words but after a while you could tell someone was actually talking though it. But when they could, James and Remus instantly wished that they couldn't. (Peter had already passed out from what many presume was a heart attack.) Pretty soon they were sure that they would rather go deaf than continue to listen to her insults. After the letter finally ran out of time, (it stopped right in the middle of an insult.) the room was completely silent. This silence was worse than the one during the sorting. Even the owls were silent, the few that hadn't instantly flew off in terror that is. Everyone was sure they had gone deaf. Until Sirius spoke.

"The volume was multiplied by more than three Remus." His hands were still covering his ears.

"Whoops." Remus said in shock.

"Now I know what you meant about your mom being half banshee." James screamed there was a very loud ringing in his ears. A few more moments of silence before the Slytherin table exploded with laughter. James looked at them shocked that anyone could think that was funny. Sirius led them back to the table trying his best to ignore the laughing. Peter was still unconscious and Remus was in a daze, he could never have imagined someone being insulted like that, by their own mother. He thought back to his own mother and tried to imagine her screaming at him all. He couldn't it hurt too much to even consider. His mum was very calm she never yelled, when he was in trouble she would calmly tell him he was wrong and was even calm when he was being punished. She had never yelled at him.

And yet Sirius was reacting better then he did when he was in trouble with his mum.


	4. First Classes

Chapter Four

First Classes

"Crud, we have charms with the Slytherins." James got an ugly look on his face.

"I kinda like it." Sirius said. He was leaning back so his chair had only two legs on the ground, they had quickly learned that this was a habit of his.

"What!" They looked at him in shock. He was the most verbal about his dislike for Slytherins.

"In charms class we have the best chance of being able to hex the Slytherins without getting caught. We can just say it is a failed charm." They laughed and agreed. The teacher finally entered the classroom.

"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts." He nodded to the class. "In their class you will be learning... well how to defend against the dark arts." The Gryffindors in the class laughed while the Slytherins looked like they were going to die. Sirius raised his hand. "Yes Mr. Black."

"Since you were late does that mean if we are late we won't get punished?" The teacher looked at him and a few of the students laughed.

"No Black. If you are late to my class you will get punished" The teacher smiled at them. James was sure this would be a teacher he liked.

"So it's a do as I say not as I do kinda thing." Sirius didn't give up.

"Exactly." Sirius started laughing. The class went on; since it was the first day the teacher mostly just introduced himself and explained in more detail what they were going to be doing this year. Remus found himself sad when the bell rang. He was sure that this class would be one of his favorites.

"What do we have next Remus?" Sirius had found out that Remus had their schedules memorized and never bothered to look at his again.

"History of Magic with Ravenclaw." Remus answered. He could tell that he was going to be the brains of this little group.

Sirius smiled. "Sweet I love history." They looked at him with disbelieving looks on their face. "What? Just because I don't like to learn doesn't mean I can't have a favorite subject." They laughed again.

By the time they got there they were five minutes late and had gotten lost three times, but were laughing so hard that their eyes watered. After they calmed down they saw that the entire class was staring at them, and then began laughing when Sirius waved at everyone.

When they finally managed to get to their seats (they sat together in the back of the classroom) they were surprised to find out that either the teacher somehow managed to completely ignore their entrance or didn't notice that they come in at all. He continued his lecture the entire class. Sirius fell asleep in less then five minutes, James began to doodle on a piece of scrap parchment, Peter was staring out the window at a bird cleaning itself, (which believe it or not was more interesting then the lesson.) and Remus was trying to take notes. He gave up halfway though the lesson and justified it by saying that nothing on the first day of school could actually be important.

Needless to say they were all very glad when it was time to go.

"I hate history." Sirius complained. James laughed.

"So much for loving it."

"Even Remus couldn't pay attention though all of it." Peter pointed out. Remus turned red he hadn't realized that anyone had notice him give up. Sirius looked at him will a surprised look on his face.

"Really?" Peter and James both nodded. Sirius smiled and hugged Remus. "I'm so proud." James and Peter laughed.

"It isn't anything to be proud of." Remus said after Sirius let go.

"Sure it is." He smiled and they began to head back to the common room. This time they only got lost twice.

"We don't have any more classes today do we?" Sirius looked at Remus who shook his head. "Great." He flopped on the couch.

"Um...Guys I have to go." Remus was trying to think of an excuse for why he would be gone for the next few days. "My mum is sick, really sick. Dad thinks it's nothing, but she is sure she is dieing." Sirius chuckled James and Peter glared at him.

"Sorry couldn't help it." He apologized. Remus smiled

"It is pretty funny; it isn't the first time she has done it so I'm not worried." They nodded and James laughed a bit too. Remus could tell he had been holding it in.

"How long will you be gone?" James asked

Remus shrugged "I don't know, at least a day though." They nodded and Sirius sat up.

"Are you going on the Hogwarts train? Do you want us to walk you there?"

Remus shook his head. "No, but thanks for the offer." He said as he turned and left the common room.

OOOOOOOOO

Remus walked down the halls towards the entrance to the grounds. As he walked he began to think about his stay at Hogwarts so far. So far today had been the best day of his life, and he wasn't exaggerating a bit. He missed his Mum and Dad, but he had new friends that more than made up for that. He had never laughed so much in his life.

He had only known his new friends for a day and he already loved all three of them as though they were his brothers. He had always wanted to have a brother, and now he had three.

He entered the grounds of Hogwarts and headed for the Womping Willow. On the way he saw Hagrid and waved to him, Hagrid waved back and came over to Remus.

"How are you doing, Remus?" Hagrid smiled

"I'm fine Hagrid." Remus had met Hagrid before. Hagrid had visited with Dumbledore one time when Dumbledore and his parents had been making plans for Remus to go to Hogwarts. He had wanted to meet Remus. And Remus was glad he did, it made him feel quite a bit better knowing that he wouldn't be the only half breed starting at Hogwarts this year.

Hagrid walked him down to the Womping Willow; they stopped a safe distance away. He grabbed a stick that was conveniently placed exactly where he needed it and poked a knot on the trunk of the tree. The tree instantly stopped moving.

"See you later Remus." Hagrid smiled. Remus smiled back

"See ya." Remus replied and dropped down the secret tunnel.

He walked along the secret tunnel and continued to think. He missed his mum and dad terribly. He received a letter from them, but only read half of it. He had gotten it not long after Sirius' howler had finished. They kept telling him how proud they were of him it is kinda hard to think about how much your parents love you right after you hear your friend being verbally abused by his mother. You don't really realize how lucky you are until you see someone that is in worse shape then you.

Remus climbed into the Shreaking Shack when the secret tunnel ended. He had a few minutes before the sun went down so he decided to explore a bit. He liked to explore, when ever he came to a new place that was the first thing he would do. He hadn't had a chance to explore the castle yet. He was spending all his free time with his friends. He had considered asking them if they wanted to explore with him, but he was sure that they would say no so he didn't say anything.

When he found the bedroom he could feel that the sun was going down. So he laid on the bed.

No matter how much pain he endured tonight, he was absolutely sure that today was the best day of his entire life. He finally had friends and he was going to be very happy here at Hogwarts.

Remus smiled, closed his eyes, and waited for the pain to begin.

OOOOOOOOO

"Darn it." Sirius laid back down on the couch. "Remus has only been gone for half an hour and I already miss him."

"Ya, me too." James flopped onto a big fluffy chair by the fireplace. "It is weird how one person can leave and it instantly sucks all the fun out of everything." Sirius and Peter both nodded.

"You think we have it bad. At least there are three of us. Remus is alone until he gets home." Peter was also missing Remus; it felt strange to think that they had only met a day ago.

"You have a point, poor Remus. That and he has to deal with a sick mom also." James was very sad. First time he had been sad since he got here actually. Except a small amount of time after Sirius' howler, they were all sad then, but Sirius made it his mission to fix that. It worked of course. Sirius could make almost anyone happy if he wanted to. It was a gift he loved to use.

"We need to make it up to him somehow." Sirius rolled over and laid on his stomach so he could see the others better.

"But how?" They looked back at him.

"I have an idea." Sirius sat up and they began scheming for the very first time.

OOOOOOOOO

Remus walked back to the Gryffindor common room with a smile plastered on his face. Thanks to the Hogwarts nurse he felt no pain. For the first time the full moon had not been that bad. Ya, there was still the pain of the transformation, but for once the wolf had been in a good mood. It only took him a few hours to recover. Usually it took a full day or more. Remus wondered if maybe the wolf was in a good mood because he had been in such a good mood. If so than the future seemed hopeful, because from the way it looked he was going to be in a very good mood for a very long time.

Though there was a good chance that the good mood may have been a result of a change in scenery. This meant that after a while it would go away. But Remus was determined to stay hopeful.

When Remus entered the common room he was hoping to see his friends lounging on the chairs and couch but it seemed that they were the only ones that weren't there. He climbed into their dormitory hoping they were there instead. But they weren't. Remus checked his watch. They shouldn't have a class right now. He decided to stay in the dorm and wait for them till their next class.

He didn't have to wait long. Remus heard voices outside of the room that were very familiar.

"Peter if you hit me with that book again I am going to suffocate you with your own dirty sock." Remus shivered Peter's dirty socks were disgusting. The door opened and Peter ran in the room and hid in his bed. Remus laughed and they all stared at him for a moment.

"Hi guys." Remus waved.

"Remus your back!" James exclaimed and they all ran up and hugged him, all three of them. If Remus wasn't in pain then he certainly was now.

"I missed you so much." Remus was beginning to have trouble breathing.

"Guys, if you don't let me go I am going to die." They all let go quickly, except Sirius who hesitated a bit before letting go.

"You're early." Peter didn't seem upset by this at all, actually none of them did. That was exactly what Remus was hoping for.

"My mum decided she wasn't going to die not long after I got there."

"Great!" After he said this Sirius' smile fell a little. "We were going to though you a party to welcome you back." His smile went back to normal. "But if it means your back sooner than I don't mind not having a party!" Remus laughed he couldn't imagine having better friends.

"We can still have a party." Remus suggested. He really liked parties. Sirius looked kind of hopeful; apparently Remus wasn't the only one.

"But there is no special occasion now."

Peter decided to join in the conversation now. "Ya, Remus has been back longer than we have."

James caught on to Remus' idea. "Who said we need a special occasion to have a party." And so they had a party. Just the four of them. None of them had ever had so much fun in their lives. (A/N I really have no idea what people do at parties so you have to make up what they did on your own. Sorry.)

An hour later they realized that they had less than five minutes to get to class. Of course they got lost a few times but they made it to class and were only three minutes late. A new record.

Unlike Professor Binns, This teacher noticed.

"Sorry were late Professor, we got lost." Remus really hoped that their party didn't cause them to get in trouble.

"Again." Sirius huffed though labored breaths. They ran the entire way.

"I understand that happens a lot in the first week of school." They looked up and saw Professor McGonagall give them a small smile. "Please take your seats." They did so without a word.

"Welcome to your first lesson in Transfiguration." Professor McGonagall began to introduce the class. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts." She continued on and they took notes. Even Sirius was paying perfect attention. James noticed that he had a very worried look on his face.

"The first thing I you are going to practice is turning a match into a needle. Watch me." She turned a match into a needle and then back. Longbottem, could you pass out the matches."

"Yes ma'am." A boy stood up and walked over to the matches and began passing them out. By the end of class none of the matches were even close to becoming needles. James and Remus' were the closest though. If you looked hard enough their matches had become kind of pointy. Sirius and Peter's matches hadn't even moved. Sirius knew it would happen. He knew it since he first read his transfiguration book. There was no way he would ever be able to pass this class; he needed to finish that map. That thought reminded him that he had to ask McGonagall something.

"I'll be right back, don't wait up." Sirius told Remus, James, and Peter and ran off before they could ask any questions. He found her just as she was leaving the classroom.

"Professor, can I ask you something." He got her attention easily.

"I believe you just did." She smiled and nodded. "Go ahead."

Sirius laughed, "It's about that map. Can I have James, Remus, and Peter help me with it? I mean if they are willing."

"Are you actually going to try to map the entire school?" She looked surprised.

"Of course. I made a deal didn't I." Sirius smiled at her.

"Like I said before..."

"I know, I know, no one has ever mapped Hogwarts and many don't think it is possible." He rolled his eyes at her.

"Including myself."

"That's ok, because I don't." He shrugged. "So can they help me?" Professor McGonagall nodded.

"Thanks." Sirius smiled and left. She sighed, what had she done, there was no way those boys could map the entire school in just a year. The full grown adults that couldn't have done it even if Hogwarts wasn't so magical.

"Oh well, it will keep them busy and out of trouble at least." She also knew that Black was a troublemaker. Unfortunately she couldn't have been more wrong.


	5. First Prank

Chapter 5

The First Prank.

Sirius caught up to James and the others quickly, some how without getting lost they managed to get to the great hall for lunch. Sirius decided to celebrate this memorial occasion.

The four of them sat in what had become their usual spot. Remus thought it was strange that Sirius didn't instantly fill his plate with food, but chose to ignore it when he turned from the watching the staff table to eat. He figured that it couldn't really matter, until heard a very loud farting noise coming from said staff table and Sirius burst into laughter.

"What the..." James didn't finish his sentence as he watched Professor McGonagall stand up quickly and pick something up that seemed to be on her chair. As soon as the picked it up a large amount of the students burst into laughter. McGonagall's face turned very red though whether it was from embarrassment or anger James couldn't tell.

"WHAT IS THIS?" She yelled glaring at the student body. Professor Dumbledore seemed to be holding back a laugh.

"It seems to be a muggle object that makes noises when one sits on it." Professor McGonagall looked at him still holding the object like it was killing her to touch it. She looked back to the students.

"WHOSE IS IT?" All of the students began laughing, excluding most of the Slytherins of course. Sirius stood and started walking to the staff table trying as hard as he could to control his laugher.

"I's mine, Professor." Some of the students quieted watching the murderous face on Professor McGonagall's face.

"What?" She really hadn't expected anyone to own up to the prank.

"It's mine, I bought it off a student yesterday and put it on your chair before you came in." The students were still laughing. McGonagall looked at him for a moment, and couldn't help but admire his bravery.

"Not anymore it isn't." He didn't look surprised.

"Thats ok it was really cheap anyway." Sirius started laughing again.

"And you have earned yourself a detention and ten points from Gryffindor." Sirius nodded. He had already made up for the ten points he lost earlier this morning and the ten points she had just taken away so he wasn't worried about that, and he didn't mind having detention. "This had better not happen again."

Sirius laughed "Of course not, I never use the same trick twice." He winked at her and went back to the table. As he walked back some of the students began clapping. Sirius smiled and bowed towards the house tables. Professor McGonagall sighed, this was going to be a hard seven years.

Sirius walked back to where his friends were sitting they were all staring at him in shock. "What?"

"Why did you do that?" James was the first one to get his mouth to form words.

"Because we actually didn't get lost on our way to the great hall. I felt the need to celebrate. And because it was funny."

"Getting a detention was funny?" Remus was surprised at how little Sirius cared about being in trouble.

"No, but it was worth it." Sirius' smile widened.

James laughed. "It was pretty funny. The look on her face was priceless."

"See what I mean, detention is a small price to pay for the priceless moment." Sirius was glad one of his friends agreed.

"I can't believe you actually went up there and admitted that you did it." Sirius looked at Peter like he had just been slapped in the face.

"Peter I'm insulted, what did you expect me to do, blame someone else?" Peter nodded. "I would never! What good is pulling a prank on someone if they have no idea you are the one who did it?"

James laughed. "Ok but next time I want in on it too." Sirius smiled even wider.

"All right." They gave each other a high five and continued eating. Remus banged his head on the table. It would figure that his new best friends ended up being troublemakers. At least he still had Peter.

"I want to help too guys." So much for Peter.

"What about you Remus?" Remus looked up to see them watching him.

"No, I will not get involved." They looked sad. Sirius even went as far as pretending to cry. "Absolutely not."

"Please Remmy." Sirius resorted to begging.

"No, and when did you start calling me Remmy."

"Just now, Please." he continued to beg. Unfortunately James and Peter decided to as well. Peter even managed to get tears in his eyes.

"No guys. If I get a detention my mom will kill me, she is already going to be mad that I got into a fight."

"So, my mom is going to kill me to, but I'm not going to let her ruin my fun." James argued and Peter nodded.

"Please Remmy, just one prank, if you don't think it is worth it then you never have to do another one again."

"Sirius... Fine just this once." They cheered.

"Great, we need a plan." Sirius and James began planning. Peter continued to eat, he was very proud of himself, he felt very brave, agreeing to prank someone took a lot of guts in his opinion. Remus suddenly didn't feel like eating. His mum would be so mad if he got in trouble so soon. But Sirius was right, it did look a lot of fun. Just watching was fun, it would be a lot funner to actually prank someone. Remus decided to help them plan.

"Ohh lets throw someones clothes in the lake or something." Remus decided that as the brains of the group, he would need to sort out the plans that were possible and the ones that weren't.

"Whose clothes." They both looked at him and thought for less then a second, they both answered together.

"The Slytherins" They looked at each other and gave the other another high five. Remus laughed, now that sounded like fun.

"One problem," There smiles left as they looked at him. "How do you plan on obtaining their clothes. If the Gryffindor tower has a password, then I have a feeling where ever the Slytherins are they will have a password also."

"Crud, and we don't even know where the Slytherin common room is." James tried to figure out a way around this.

"Why don't we just follow one of the Slytherins to their common room?" Sirius suggested.

"Won't they get suspicious as to why the four of us are following them around everywhere?" Remus immediately saw the flaw in this.

"Not if all four of us don't follow him. I can do it, I can wright the password down and then we can all come back later tonight and grab some of their clothes."

Remus didn't like the tonight part. "What about curfew" Sirius shrugged

"It has to be at night or the Slytherins will catch us."

"But if we are out after curfew we will get in huge trouble." This time it was Peter who was worried.

"Not if your with me you won't." Sirius smiled at them. He was very confident of himself.

"How do you know that Mr. Ego?" Sirius laughed at James' nickname.

"Because, I'm good thats how." They all laughed and finished their lunch.

"What class is next, Remus?"

"Sirius, have you ever even looked at your schedule?" Remus gave him a dark look. But Sirius laughed.

"Of course I have, but I didn't memorize it and you did so I didn't think I needed to carry it around with me."

Remus sighed. "We have charms with the Slytherins." Sirius smiled.

"Yay, we get to charm some Slytherins, do we have a free period after that?" Remus nodded "See I did look at the schedule. I will follow one of the Slytherins to their common room after charms." James cheered he was really looking forward to this.

"How will you know that they are going to the common room?" Peter asked as though he was sure that Sirius would just know or something.

"Hmm I'm not sure, I'll probably just have to guess." Peter looked disappointed. Remus was worried that Peter was going to become Sirius' number one fan.

"Crud, a dead end." They stopped and saw that James was right. They were once again lost.

"Darn, we were on a roll there." Sirius sighed and they turned around.

"I don't think it was that much of a roll, we only got to where we wanted to be without getting lost once."

"Once is better than none, Remmy." Sirius was trying to figure out which way to go.

"Don't call me Remmy. Lets go left." They went left.

"This would be much better if we had a map." Sirius stopped for a second.

"Map." They stopped to see what was wrong. "Oh I forgot, I need to ask you something."

"Ask us on the way we need to find our class." Remus continued walking, the rest of them followed.

"Ok, I was wondering if you guys wanted to help me make a map of the school."

"What?"

"Do you want to help me make a map of the school? I'm going to try it anyway but it would be easier with help."

"Is it even possible to make a map of Hogwarts?"

"No." Remus answered as they found another dead end. "The school is unplottable. That means mapping it is impossible."

"Not necessarily. My house is unplottable, but I made a map of my room once." James gave Sirius a funny look.

"Why would you make a map of your own room?" Even James' room wasn't big enough to get lost in and he had a big room.

"It was a treasure map for Regulus, I told him that if he could find my stash of candy than he could have half of it, and made a map of my room to help him."

"Who is Regulus?"Remus asked as they entered a familiar hallway. "Crud we are right back where we started."

"He is my little brother, lets just ask for directions."

"Who are we going to ask, the wall?" James pretended to ask the wall for directions.

"Very funny James, see we wouldn't be lost if we had a map." They climbed up a staircase and saw some other first years. "Yay, we found intelligent life." One of the students turned around. "Or not so intelligent life." It was a Slytherin. The Slytherin sneered at them and walked into a classroom. They followed hoping that the Slytherin was in the right class.

They saw Professor Flitwick standing on a large pile of books. Remus looked at his watch. "Hey, we're not late."

"Sweet." They sat down to wait for the class to begin. "So will you guys help me?"

"Help you with what?" James looked though his backpack and got out his books.

"With the map, gosh do you pay attention to anything?" Sirius was starting to get mad.

"Calm down Si, I was just messing with you. Are you sure it is possible?" Sirius glared at him for a second.

"No, but it can't really hurt can it?"

"Ah, why not I'm in, like you said it can't hurt." James nodded and they looked at the other two.

"I still don't think it is possible, but it's worth a try." they gave Remus a quiet cheer. "What about you Peter." Peter smiled at them.

"I'm in."

"Ya, that's everyone." James and Sirius high fived each other again and charms class began.

Professor Flitwick was a good teacher and they quickly began to like his class it wasn't their favorite but still a good class. Sirius and James got a few good shots at the Slytherins and only got caught once. By the time class was over five Slytherins had pink hair and one was hanging by a nail in the wall (that was the time they got caught.) Sirius had also decided which Slytherin he was going to follow. Of course he picked one that was most likely to hex him. When class was over he waved and went after her trying to look inconspicuous.

OOOOOOOOO

Sirius followed the 7th year Slytherin girl he was having no trouble at all. She was in the middle of a large crowd nobody at all noticed that he was there, except a few Hufflepuff girls who were watching him dreamily. Strangely enough no matter where he was it was still the same girls watching him, he was starting to worry that the Slytherin wasn't the only one being followed. He ignored them when the Slytherin girl went into one of the dungeons and stopped in front of a bare stone wall.

"Always pure" the girl said to the wall Sirius guessed that this was a password as the wall opened like a door. He considered going inside to see what it looked like but he looked over his shoulder and saw two of the Hufflepuff girls were still behind him.

Sirius sighed as the door to the Slytherin common room door closed and smiled. _If you can't beat them... _he thought as he walked over to the girls and put an arm around each of their shoulders and walked towards the Gryffindor common

OOOOOOOOO

Remus was starting to worry he was sure Sirius was taking way too long, but when ever he tried to express his worry to James he just brushed it off saying Sirius would be fine. Peter wasn't much help either, he just agreed with whatever James said like James knew everything or something, it was driving Remus insane.

"That's it I'm going to go look for him." He said storming towards the door.

"Remmy calm down." James got off the couch and walked over to Remus.

"Not you too! My name is Remus not Remmy!" Remus was not in a very good mood.

"Sorry." James looked over to Peter. "If you are really worried than we can go look for him but we promised to wait for him here, so I think we should wait here for as long as we can stand." Remus looked at the ground for a second and nodded, they did promise and he hated breaking a promise.

Just then the door opened to reveal Sirius waving at a couple girls who looked like they were going to faint. He walked in and shut the door behind him.

"Hi guys." They stared at him for a while.

"What took you so long?" James asked. Remus was seething he knew perfectly well what had taken Sirius so long.

"The Slytherin common room is clear down in the dungeons it took a very long time to walk back up."

"Especially with two girls slowing you down." Remus pointed out still very mad causing James to laugh.

"Oh them, I caught them following me and they were third years so they could help me find my way back without getting lost." Remus looked surprised

"Thats it?" He was ashamed of even thinking that Sirius would make them wait for a couple of girls.

"Ya, I don't even know their names."

"Oh, sorry." Sirius shrugged and laughed.

"No big." Remus felt better "Like I said the Slytherin common room is in the dungeons and I have the password memorized, its really easy, so all we have to do is sneak out probably after midnight." James and Remus nodded Peter started to look scared.

"What if we get caught?"

"We won't get caught Peter, don't worry."

"Are you sure?" Sirius and James nodded. Remus looked a lot less confident than them but smiled at Peter showing him that he agreed. "Ok if your sure." He still looked scared.

"We had better leave early for potions in case we get lost." Remus said and headed to the door.

"Right." Sirius and James said in unison and followed. Peter followed quietly.

"Speaking about being lost, when are we going to start that map?" Sirius looked exited.

"When is your detention?" Remus asked. He couldn't believe he was asking this question. If his mum found out his new friend had a detention so early in the year, well he couldn't imagine what she would say, but he was sure that she wouldn't want him to be hanging out with Sirius anymore, but he couldn't bring himself to be mad a Sirius at all.

"Not sure yet, she hasn't told me." Sirius shrugged like he got a detention every day.

"If it isn't tomorrow we can do it then, but there is a lot we will have to do before we start drawing the actual map you know that right?" Remus looked at Sirius' now confused face.

"Like what?"

Remus sighed. "There are a lot of things we have to figure out like are we going to make it a scale model or is it just going to be a rough sketch?"

"It has to be scale because a rough sketch would be inaccurate." James joined in the conversation.

"Are we going for accuracy or are we just trying to get a better grade?" Remus asked as the walked into the potions classroom. "hey, we didn't get lost." They cheered. It seemed they were one of the few that didn't get lost because more than half the class showed up late. They came in in small groups all swearing that they got lost.

"Well we wasn't to get a better grade but that doesn't mean we should do any less than our best. Which means it needs to be as accurate as we can get it." Sirius answered his question when they had sat down.

"So we wasn't a scale map then, that leads to a lot of other things to think about, like what scale are we going to use, and how are we going to measure the entire school?"

Sirius thought about this. "Hmm I think we should wait on the scale until we find out how big the school is compared to the parchment that we are going to use. As for how we are going to measure the school maybe we can look up some kind of spell in the library after class or something." Remus nodded while chopping up a few ingredients for the potion they were working on.

"That sounds like a good idea, but lets wait till tomorrow, I'm exhausted and if we are going to be up by midnight I need a nap." The others nodded and worked on their potions. James and Sirius spent more time cracking jokes about Professor Slughorn's name than actually working on the potion, but still managed to be the only ones that got the potion perfect and thus earning 10 points each for Gryffindor.

"Green, my potion turned green!" Remus hid his face in his hands.

"It wasn't that off." Sirius was trying to make him feel better, but it was completely hopeless especially since he was trying not to laugh at what a big deal Remus made this.

"IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE RED! RED SIRIUS, THAT IS THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF GREEN!" Sirius took a step back he was not officially scared of Remus.

"Calm down Rem, at least yours didn't start exploding like that kid's, what's his name, did."

"His name is Zachariah Weasly, and I suppose your right." Remus visibly calmed down. "And don't call me Rem."

Sirius laughed. "It is either Rem or Remmy choose."

"Why can't you just call me by my name? Is Remus really that hard to say?"

"No but I like nicknames, so deal with it." Remus stuck his tongue out at Sirius who did the same back, and Remus ignored Sirius the whole way back. Once they were back in the common room (they got lost four times then Sirius found a second year girl and 'charmed' her into showing them the way. He mostly just stood there and talked to her and winked a couple of times, Remus was worried she was going to faint.) they started to head up to their dormitory

"Man I wish I could do that." Peter looked admiringly at Sirius.

"Do what?" Sirius asked

"Get girls to do whatever I want just by winking at them." Sirius laughed.

"Ya, it rocks."

Remus yawned "I'm taking a nap." He took some pajamas from his trunk and changed behind the curtains around the bed. (It is like eight pm so wearing PJs isn't that weird.)

"That sounds like a good idea." James commented and went to do the same. As soon as he saw James doing it Peter did the same also.

"I think I am going to go to the library and look for a measurement spell until curfew." Sirius decided that he wasn't tired enough to sleep.

Remus poked his head out of the curtains and looked at Sirius. "Will you be ok at midnight?"

"Ya I've stayed up all night before." Sirius headed towards the door. "And I might get some sleep after curfew or something."

"Alright bye." Remus ducked back under the covers and attempted to sleep.

OOOOOOOOO (two hours later.)

Sirius walked back into their dormitory and sat a small pile of books on the floor beside his bed. He found a few books that seemed promising but he ran out of time before he could look though them so he brought them back. He looked behind the curtains of the other three's beds to make sure they were still there and asleep. They were, though Remus looked like he could wake at any time. He got into his own bed and pulled down the curtains, he thought about going to sleep, but decided not to as he only had two hours of sleep and someone needed to wake up the others at midnight.

Sirius reached out to the book pile and grabbed the one on top. "Lumos" a light lit at the end of his wand, he learned that spell from his mother and was surprised that it worked so quickly. He skimmed the pages hoping to find something that could help them.

When he had gone though one hour and three books he started to get frustrated, he hadn't found anything at all.

"Sirius?" He jumped at the sound of Remus' voice and turned to see Remus peaking though the curtains at him. "Sorry didn't mean to startle you."

"It's ok just didn't expect anyone to be up for another hour." Sirius decreased the light coming from his wand when he noticed Remus was squinting. "Why are you up already?"

Remus shrugged "I don't sleep very well." he sat down on the bed and picked up a different book. "Any luck."

Sirius groaned "No, I can't find anything."

"You have to give it some time, you can't find everything immediately." Remus laughed and opened the book to search. Sirius sighed and did the same. It was half an hour before any of them found anything. Sirius found a spell that causes your wand to point north. It wasn't what they were looking for, but it could help so they practiced it until midnight. They woke up the others, they had a little problem with Peter when they found out that he was a very heavy sleeper and they had to knock him off the bed to wake him up, but by twelve thirty they were in the common room ready to go.

Thankfully the Slytherin common room was in a dungeons so it was easy to find and they got to it quickly. Though not quite quietly, Peter was freaking out.

"What if we get caught by a teacher? What if we get a detention? What if we get caught by a Slytherin, they will kill me, I swear they will..." He never stopped the entire way. Thankfully he was whispering. Sirius was starting to get angry.

"Shut up or we will get caught, and trust me Peter if you get us caught it won't be a Slytherin that kills you, it will be me." Peter instantly shut up with a look of terror on his face. They were now standing in front of a bare wall.

"Did we hit a dead end?" James turned around.

"No it's right here." He stood in front of the wall "Always pure." The wall opened like a door to reveal the empty Slytherin common room. "Good it's empty lets get some of their clothes."

"Boys or Girls." Remus asked.

"Boys." They walked into the boys dormitories.

"Lets stick with the younger students, that way if they wake up they can't do as much to us." Strangely enough Remus was not near as worried as he thought he would be, he was actually enjoying it, Peter wasn't though. Peter was still freaking but he managed to keep quiet.

"Aww, I wanted to go after a few seventh years." Sirius teased quietly as they walked up to one of the first years dormitories.

"Please tell me your kidding." He was starting to worry that Sirius was suicidal. First with the Womping willow now this.

"Don't worry I'm kidding. Even I'm not that stupid." They all went quiet as Sirius opened the door and began walking to a trunk. James followed, they read the name on the trunk and barely caught themselves before they started laughing. Sirius waved Remus and Peter over to see who's it is, Peter refused to move but Remus slowly walked over. He was starting to get scared. What if one of them woke up what would they do then? Remus got over to James and Sirius and read the name on the trunk. He looked back at Sirius, and Sirius mouthed the word revenge at him.

The trunk belonged to Severus Snape. Remus smiled and looked back at the trunk, he forgot that Snape was a Slytherin. This would be fun. James opened the trunk, thankfully it wasn't locked. Then Remus realized a huge flaw in their plan, unfortunately he realized it way to late. They had no way of carrying the cloths down to the lake. It seemed James realized this too. They looked at Sirius who somehow knew exactly what they were thinking. He rolled his eyes, pointed his wand at the trunk, and muttered a charm that neither of them knew. The trunk instantly was small enough to fit in his pocket. Sirius did the same to the other four trunks and hurried towards the door. Once they were out they found it safe enough to talk.

"What did you do?" James whispered

"I just reduced the size of the trunks. My mother taught me how to do that."

"Wow." Peter stared at Sirius like he was his idol.

"Lets do the other first years and then throw them in the lake. I don't want to risk anyone older until we can defend ourselves." James took two of the mini trunks and stuck them in his pocket. Sirius tried to argue. "I know you know how to do a lot of different types of magic Sirius, but Peter, Remus, and I don't yet." Sirius looked a little sad but agreed, he didn't want anyone to get hurt either. So they got all of the first year Slytherin boy's trunks and went back to the common room.

"Should we do the girls too?" James asked and Sirius shook his head.

"No girls I've met a few of the Slytherin girls. Going into their room at night would be nothing short of suicidal." James nodded and they left the room

"Now we need to make them bigger before we through them in the lake or no one will ever find them." Sirius said as they climbed out of the dungeons

"Isn't that the point?" Peter asked he still wasn't completely relaxed but it was better that he wasn't in the common room now. Sirius shook his head in disbelief

"Peter what is wrong with you? No that isn't the point, they have to be able to find them or they will think that the house elves took them or something. What is the point of playing a joke on someone if someone else gets the credit." Sirius said as they walked out the front doors towards the lake.

"But then we will get in trouble." Peter was very confused

"Not if they can't prove it." Sirius looked smug as they stopped by the lake.

James laughed. "Your logic doesn't make sense, if they can't prove it then how are they going to know it's us."

"He is saying that after a while we will build up such a reputation that everyone will know that we are the ones that did it, but they have no proof so they can't do anything about it." Remus explained though he wasn't positive about it himself.

"Exactly." Sirius nodded and recited a spell that made all the trunks return to their original size, this scared Peter of course.

"What do we do till we build up that reputation?" James liked the idea of having a reputation of a trickster.

"I don't know, I'm just going to wing it."

James laughed "Alright."

"Most people are going to suspect it's you anyway Sirius because of what you pulled at lunch."

"Sweet."Sirius was very proud of himself.

"Do we have to get caught in order to make a reputation." Peter opened one of the suitcases and stared at it as James dumped the clothes into the water.

"Nah, just hanging out with the bad kid here will do that." they all laughed

Remus and Peter cheered when Sirius and James worked together to throw the last suitcase in the lake. They observed their handiwork for a while and gave each other a high five.

They headed inside looking over their shoulders every once in a while.

"Race you back to the common room." Sirius laughed and started to run.

"No fair you got a head start." James ran after him.

Remus laughed "Come on Peter." He said as he started to run as well. Peter quickly followed, afraid to be caught outside after curfew.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

(AN) Hi y'all. This is probably the longest chapter I have ever written. I still need ideas for pranks and stuff. Especially if you thought this one was lame. I did this instead of the underwear from the flagpole thing which **Becca S. **suggested. I think the flagpole thing is very overused. But they gave me the idea, so credit goes to her. If your reading this thank you and I intend to use your other idea also, though it may be a while.

Thank you to my reviewers (all 2 of them)

Becca S.

Carrotcucumber


	6. A Building Reputation

Chapter 6

A Building Reputation

"How did you beat me?" Sirius was staring at Remus. "I had a head start!"

Remus laughed "Because I'm faster than you that's why."

"No I'm telling you why, it's because you're some kind of superhuman, that's why." Remus' laughter stopped

"You know that isn't possible." Remus tried to continue joking hoping to keep them from being suspicious. Unfortunately for him James noticed. He tried to say something, but Sirius replied first.

"It also isn't possible for you to move like a vampire either." Sirius pouted.

"You don't even know how fast vampires move." Remus began to get nervous; Sirius was starting to get close.

"I do to, I saw one once." Sirius defended.

"You did not, or you'd be dead." Remus went behind the curtain on his bed and changed back into his PJ's

"Did so, but I apparated before she could kill me." Sirius did the same.

"If you expect me to believe you apparated at eleven years old your crazier than our astronomy teacher." Their astronomy teacher was extremely crazy. When they got loud she threatened to jump out the astronomy tower.

"I am not!" Sirius was starting to get angry. "And I was six"

"You were probably just dreaming Sirius." James decided to calm the argument. "Speaking of dreams I had a dream you were living with me and my parents, Si."

"I was not dream.... What?" Sirius was completely distracted "That would be so cool."

"Ya, but we were like 17."

"Darn, I don't want to wait that long."

"Is that even possible? Your parents would never let you move in with the Potters."

"I could run away."

"Would you really run away?" Sirius thought about this for a while.

"No I couldn't leave Reggy alone with those morons."

"Right I forgot you have a brother."

"Ya."

"Do you miss him?" James asked

"Ya, he probably hates me though." Sirius changed into his PJ's and flopped on his bed.

"I doubt that, he probably is proud of you for standing up for what you believe in."

"Sure he is." Sirius replied sarcastically "I'm going to bed, I've been up all night."

"I'm going to bed also. G'night guys." James climbed in bed the same time as Sirius.

"Night." Remus and Peter said at the same time and went to bed. Remus laid in bed knowing sleep would not come to him. He began to worry that his mum would find out about what he just did. He didn't see anything wrong with it, he hadn't hurt anyone and it was just for fun, but he knew his mum would be upset. He sighed, it didn't matter now, the prank was done and over with and there was nothing he could do about it now. Remus laughed and told himself to stop worrying, the chances his mum would find out were slim, and life was no fun without a little adventure. What had happened that day was defiantly classified as an adventure. To his extreme surprise the next day, Remus actually fell asleep that night. Also to his surprise, Sirius was the first to wake up that morning.

"Sirius, why are you up this early. It's only seven." Remus said tiredly when he walked into the bathroom and saw Sirius messing with his hair.

"I am not having a repeat of the first day of school." Sirius put a big glob of stuff Remus didn't even recognize in his hair.

"You looked fine. How long have you been up?" Remus paused before getting into a shower (there is one for each of them.)

"Since four." He answered like it was normal for someone to get up five hours early just to do their hair. "Don't use that one; I used up all the hot water in it."

Remus was too tired to realize that using up all the hot water in a Hogwarts shower would take two whole hours of showering. He just nodded and went in a different one. A half hour later Remus came out (fully dressed in case anyone was wondering) and Sirius was still messing with his hair. This time instead of the glob of stuff, Sirius was using his wand.

"What are you doing now?" Remus was starting to worry about Sirius' sanity.

"It's a spell I learned when I was like five." He recited a spell that caused his bangs to curl a bit. It did help the look, not that it wasn't fine before.

"How long are you going to spend on your hair?" Remus asked as James walked in.

"Sup guys." James said drowsily and yawned.

"Sirius has been doing his hair for four hours."

"I have not, I've only been doing it for two, I spent the other two in the shower. Why does it even bother you, it isn't like I'm in your way or anything."

"It isn't bothering me, I just find it weird."

"Ya, well I find vampire speed to be weird too, but I'm not bugging you about it am I?"

"You were last night." Remus said quietly, he hadn't meant to make anyone mad.

"I was not; I was just trying to figure out how you did it."

"And I was just trying to figure out why you do it."

"Guys calm down. It's too early to fight, wait till later or something." Sirius and Peter looked at him for a while and started laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing James just go take a shower." Sirius said and turned back to his hair. James shrugged and got in the shower.

"Rem? Can you wake up Peter? If we don't he won't wake up in time." Sirius asked.

"He woke up fine before." actually it had been Sirius who refused to wake up.

"All I know is yesterday he didn't get up until two minutes before breakfast."

"Um wow, in that case I'll go wake him up." Sirius laughed

"Good idea." Remus went to wake up Peter. Sirius continued on his hair until James came out of the shower.

"Are you done yet?" James borrowed Sirius' comb and quickly brushed his hair. It didn't help much though.

"Almost. How can you stand to have your hair so messy?" Sirius looked at him with a small bit of envy on his face.

"I've had to get used to it. No matter what I do it still looks messy."

"That sucks." James just nodded as Peter came in and got into the shower with out a word. Remus followed him.

"I had to flip over his mattress." James and Sirius looked at him wordlessly for a second and then started laughing so hard that they had trouble standing.

"It isn't that funny." Remus gave them a puzzled look, but couldn't help laughing also.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

They had completely forgotten about their joke. Though seeing a few Slytherins walk into the Great Hall quickly jogged their memory. There was a large amount of Slytherins missing but even worse (or better if you prefer) there was five or six Slytherins in their PJ's. They were seething. As soon as the few Slytherins in their PJ's told everyone that their clothes vanished the entire Gryffindor and Hufflepuff table began laughing their heads off, and a large amount of the Ravenclaws were too. The funniest of all was the reactions of the other Slytherins and the teachers. The other Slytherins began get mad. They didn't really care about the Slytherins in their sleep wear; they got mad because it embarrassed the entire Slytherin house.

The teachers freaked. Especially Professor McGonagall she was absolutely sure that it had been someone in her house that had done it. She just couldn't figure out who. She had a few suspects though. Including one Sirius Black. She still hadn't forgotten the farting joke he played on her. She was yelling at the Gryffindors. Remus only caught one sentence though the laugher of the students.

"When I find the Marauders that did this they are going to be so sorry that they'll wish they had never been born."

Dumbledore seemed quite amused by this prank, though he still insisted that Filtch and the head of the Slytherins house look for the clothes. They were quickly found to the disappointment of the Gryffindors.

* * *

A/NThanks to all my reviewers.

Still looking for ideas if anyone has any.


	7. Library

Chapter 7

Library

"Guys my mum is sick again." Remus showed them a letter he faked in his father's handwriting.

"Aww. Does that mean your going away again?" Sirius whined. They were sitting in the common room. James was taking up three froths of the couch, Remus and Peter were sitting in two armchairs next to the couch and Sirius was sitting upside-down on the last forth of the couch.

"Ya, I have to go this Friday." They moaned, it had been extremely boring last time Remus left, and they didn't want to have a repeat. Remus decided to change the subject. "Has anyone managed to find that spell we need to measure the outside of the school?"

"No. Apparently they don't expect any of us to be carpenters after we graduate." James answered. "We should probably go back and look, huh." He made no move to get up.

"Ya, lets go, the blood is rushing to my head anyway." Sirius swung himself around, almost kicking James in the face and stood up. After James half yelled at Sirius for a minute they set off for the library.

Remus was starting to think that no argument in the world could split those two up. In the past month they had gotten in so many arguments that it made his head spin. They were in one at least twice a day, but they got over it so quickly. One second they'd be about ready to rip each others heads off and the next second they would be trying to figure out the easiest way to make one of the Slytherins cry. (Which much to their amusement has happened multiple times.) There was no make up period in between the fights the friendship. Remus had never had a brother, but seeing those two made him understand what it felt like. He had never seen two people that were closer than they were.

Remus also noticed a few other things. Peter was beginning to open up a bit. He talked to them more as time passed. One time he had even tried to play a joke on Sirius. He failed of course. There was no man alive that could play a prank on Sirius, and many had tried. People had started to automatically assume any prank was Sirius' doing. More than 90 percent of the time they were right of course. Many of the victims, mostly Slytherins but a few from other houses too, tried to get revenge. It never worked. Sirius always saw though them.

The biggest thing he noticed though was a bit more unpleasant. As time progressed Sirius started disliking his family more and more. He slowly figured out that some of the he never thought twice about was extremely wrong. One of the most notable was the word Mud blood. He had unknowingly called Evans one when she nagged on them that they should be doing their homework. He hadn't understood why the entire room went dead silent when he said it, or why Evans had started crying and ran back up to her dormitory. They dragged him back up to their room and tried to explain. He didn't completely understand though until he saw Evans again though. He immediately apologize and had tried his best ever since to keep from saying it, but he wasn't perfect so it still slipped out sometimes.

As soon as they got to the library they began looking for anything that would help them with the map. It was a Saturday so they had plenty of time. After three hours they began to give up.

"Shoot, I'm an idiot." Remus said and smacked himself in the forehead.

"What? What did you do?" James asked a little worried.

"Why don't we just ask the librarian if anyone would know where we can find it is her?" Sirius and James started laughing.

"You know, that is a good idea." They continued laughing as Remus went to talk to the librarian. He gave them thumbs up when she led him to the exact section they would need. Sirius, James, and Peter fallowed.

"You have got to be kidding me." Sirius said before the librarian could tell him to shush. "We have been looking for this for three hours, and it was all right here."

"Shush, or we will have to leave." Remus said quietly looking at the librarian who was glaring at them. They began to look through the books, placing any of them that were helpful on a table beside them. Now that they knew where to look there was a lot of useful information, not just for measuring but some of it was for the actually drawing of the map. Like a charm could make the quill only make a line as long as you told it to? After that the ink would stop flowing. So you didn't have to measure the line you were drawing. Also a spell that made them able to do any of the math needed to make the map perfectly scale in their head. All in all it was a very helpful day. After Remus took notes of everything they needed to work on the left.

"Awesome! Can we start drawing the map now?" Sirius asked. He was starting to get very excited.

"I think so." Remus was actually starting to get kind of hopeful. They had found so much information that it seemed like it would be easy.

"Sweet, we should start at the Gryffindor tower!"

"Not yet." Remus said and Sirius sighed. "We need to start on the outside first. That way we know what our outer limits are." Sirius thought for half a second

"Oh that makes sense." Sirius jogged outside.

"Wow he is excited isn't he?" Remus laughed. "It's only a map."

James smiled. "It isn't just a map to him anymore. Everyone is telling him it can't be done. It isn't making the map that has him excited; it's taking on the challenge that has been presented to him. He is determined to prove them wrong." Remus thought about this, and understood what James was saying. This was further proof of the powerful bond that James and Sirius had. It was extremely hard to believe just a month ago they hated each other.

"Let's go, before Sirius gets impatient." James joked and followed after Sirius. Remus laughed and he and Peter ran after them.

* * *

A/N: I am so sorry it took so long to update. I have been distracted. I will try to update more often, but it will take a long time. I plan on doing all 7 years of their schooling, but I'm not going to write every second of my time. Please be patient with me. I should have finished writing it before I posted it on the internet. I'm sorry.

BTW: I have a reason for Sirius to be so obsessed with how he looks, but you have to wait to find out what it is. ^_^ Ha I'm evil.

Thanks to all my reviewers and everyone that are reading my stories.

Special thanks for The giant purple squirrel and Becca S for the prank ideas. I have every intention to use them. ^_^


	8. The Begining of the Map

Chapter 8

The Beginning of the Map

"What took you so long" Sirius complained as they ran out of the school.

"Stop being so impatient Si," James teased when they got up to him. Sirius just stuck his tongue out at him.

"Sirius did you even bring a parch met to draw the map on." Remus asked.

"Whoops, I suppose I should go get one huh." Remus sighed.

"I'll do it. I won't take as long." Remus ran back into the castle.

Sirius growled to himself, this was taking too long, he wanted to start already.

"Let's practice the charms we need to use while he getting the parchment." James said.

"Ok" Sirius and Peter agreed and they began to practice. Eventually Remus got back.

"Yay" They cheered. Remus laughed.

"Who is going to draw it?" Remus asked. They looked confused. "One of us has to draw it while the rest of us measure the building" They nodded in understanding then looked at each other. Peter was the first to vote.

"Sirius has the best handwriting."

"You have a point." They all agreed that Sirius would do it.

They quickly realized that it would be a bit harder than they thought. The measuring spell they found made a ruler that you could see though and walk though, but you still had to run the length of the school. The ruler just followed where ever you walked.

All in all Sirius was very glad they pick him to draw the map. They worked until night fell and by then they had most of the outside of the first floor completed. When they got back to their room they collapsed onto their beds. Well all of them but Sirius did.

"We're making progress guys. Does this prove that it can be mapped yet?" Sirius asked as he stared at the map in pride.

"Not yet. It still isn't a map, just some lines on a paper." He yawned and change into his pjs.

"Oh, oh well. We can do it, whether they agree or not." Sirius was very sure of himself. He laid the map on a desk in the corner of the room, put his pjs on, and went to bed.

Remus was the last to fall asleep; with the moon growing larger he grew more restless, and sick. He tried to hide how bad he felt, but sometimes he was sure they could see though his pretences. Running around outside today didn't help much either, but at least it made him tired, so he was able to get some sleep.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Their morning routine hadn't changed much from the first week of school. On the weekends it was like the very first day. Sirius was always the last one up, and Remus was the first one up. The only difference was they didn't have to hurry on the weekends like they did that first day. So Sirius usually sleeps in till ten. Then of course he spends four hours getting ready.

As soon as everyone was up and ready for the day, they decided to go work on the map again. Remus was worried that they would end up neglecting their homework over this. Luckily they didn't have much yet. James seemed as excited about getting the map done than Sirius, and Peter was just glad he was able to help make it. Sirius was still drawing it, though he offered to do some of the measuring. They were worried about messing it up. When they got the outside of the first floor done they had to stop and consider what they were going to do about the other floors and the towers. They couldn't see it as well from the ground.

"What if we used a broomstick?" Sirius asked. Remus sighed and James began to pace.

"We aren't allowed to use broomsticks until our third year." Remus reminded him.

"Oh, ya I forgot." Sirius sat down on the ground.

James stopped his pacing. "I got it! Why don't we just look at it from the top of the astronomy tower? It is one of the tallest towers. Than we can make a sketch of it and estimate the actual lengths."

"I think that will work. We will have to give up some of the accuracy, but I don't think we really have a choice." They went inside and headed for the astronomy tower. They were stopped by Professor McGonagall.

"And where are you boys heading off to?" They looked at each other wondering if they should tell her or keep it a secret between themselves for now. They left the decision up to Sirius, it was his idea anyway.

"Were going to the astronomy tower." Sirius answered without hesitation. He seemed to be willing to tell her anything.

James considered this as McGonagall answered. "And why are you going up there?" Most students avoided the astronomy tower in fear that the crazy teacher would be there.

"We need to be able to see the top of the school." He told her and ran past her before she could ask any more questions. James and the others followed. When they got up to the tower James completely forgot about the conversation with Professor McGonagall. The crazy teacher was no where in site and without her there the astronomy tower was awesome. It had the perfect view. You could see anyone and everyone that was outside. You could even almost see into the Forbidden Forest. He borrowed Remus' telescope that thankfully Remus had thought to bring, and spied on Snape and Evans by the lake.

"Umm James, mate, I know staring at your girlfriend is kinda important to you, but we would kinda like to get started." Sirius laughed startling James causing him to drop the telescope. Luckily Remus had really good reflexes. He caught it before it could fall off of the tower.

"What did you say?" James g laired at Sirius, causing Sirius to laugh even louder. "She is not my girlfriend!"

"Who said I was talking about Evans." With that James tackled Sirius to the floor. Sirius laughing though the punches.

"Will you guys stop it? I would like to be out of the tower before nightfall." Remus sighed. He couldn't even imagine still being up here after the sun went down. The moon is almost full; it would be scary enough just to be outside when it came out. Let alone this high off of the ground. Even with the sun up he felt way to close to the moon.

James stood up, Sirius had finally stopped laughing so he decided Black had enough punishment for today, and they started working on the map. It bugged them that they couldn't be positive about the measurements, Sirius complained about it almost the whole time. By the time they had decided to stop for the day James and Sirius had completely forgotten about their little argument and were planning a prank for Snape again.

Life continued on like this for quite a while. They continued with the outside of the school until they had completely drawn every nook and cranny on their map. Remus had left Friday around noon. He was getting too sick to stay as long as he had last month, last month had been an easy month, and it wasn't hard to tell that it wouldn't be the same this month. He also had to stay in bed much longer the next day. He spent almost the whole day in bed.

Also, to James, Remus, and Peter's great re leaf, they managed to build their reputations as troublemakers without getting caught. Actually they had never gotten a detention. Sirius was the only one who got in trouble, and that was usually only because he was either goofing around and didn't bother to try to keep from getting caught or because he decided to turn himself in. Their first detention was of course Peter's fault.

They were working on a report for History of Magic class when the idea first popped into James' head. They were doing their report on the history of Halloween, since it was coming up in just a week, when Remus came across a very interesting fact. Godric Gryffindor's birthday was just two days away. As Gryffindors James felt it was their job to celebrate such a monumental 'holiday'. Of course the first thought that came into Sirius' head was to celebrate it by pranking the Slytherins. Typical Sirius.

"I highly doubt that Gryffindor would approve of that, he wasn't as mean as you guys are." Remus joked.

"He has a point, and I'm not mean. Those Slytherins deserve whatever we dish out."

"I've got it!" James stood up. "We won't prank them." Sirius looked at him in shock.

"Who are you, and what have you done with my friend?"

"I'm an alien from Mars. That's not what I meant Si, it isn't considered a prank really. No one is going to be embarrassed by it, or anything." Sirius looked skeptical while Peter laughed at the alien joke. "Here's what we are going to do!" James was smirking like crazy, there was no doubt in his mind that they would help him with his plan. "We're going to do a little redecorating. The Slytherin colors are so boring, I mean come on green and silver. They don't even go together that well. So we are going to do them a little favor." Sirius was catching on quickly now.

"Gryffindor would like that, us helping those poor styleless Slytherins. We would be doing them an honor." Sirius had an evil glint in his eye. "Of course we would use Gryffindor's favorite colors."

"Red, and gold" All four of them said at the same time. James and Sirius gave each other a high five, and Remus laughed at the brilliance of the plan, not that all of them weren't brilliant, this one was defiantly the best. Peter of course was freaking out, he really didn't want to go back into the Slytherin common room. Once was enough for him, but everyone was used to his freaking by now and just ignored him.

They would of course do it around midnight, it was the only time they wouldn't be caught. Remus found a couple of books that told them how to change the color of any object, of course they had the 'wonderful' idea of practicing with the tables and ended up getting kicked out. They should have known better, they've been kicked out of the library even Remus couldn't keep track of it.

All the others went to sleep till midnight, while Sirius stayed up and put some extra detail on the map. He wanted to make sure that everyone woke up on time, and flatly whenever he got bored he would work on the map. He was really proud of how far they had gotten, by now they were absolutely sure that it was possible to finish the map. They weren't sure if they could do it by the end of the year, but they knew they could do it. They had the entire outside of the castle completed, they even had Hagrid's hut on there. Remus had decided that they needed to take a little break from it, they were starting to get behind on their homework.

Sirius smiled at how Remus had changed in just this short amount of time. At the beginning of the year, he hardly ever spoke. He would never interrupt any of them, or tell them what to do. He was shy and scared to death of losing the only friends he had. Remus had never actually told them that he didn't have any other friends, but it wasn't hard to tell. He still didn't interrupt or try to tell them what to do, but now it was more out of politeness than fear. Well he didn't most of the time, he would tell them when they were going too far with a prank or if they started to neglect their school work. Once James and Sirius had gotten so far behind because of their little escapades that Remus literally dragged them over too the desk in the common room and stood over them until they got all of their homework done.

He was terrified of losing his friends, but if he had to risk making them mad at him to help him, he would not hesitate. He was a great friend. Sirius chuckled, if his mother ever knew he thought that way about a half-blood she would freak.

His mind switched to the topic of his mother, and what he would have to go home to when it was time to get the guys up. For once it was pretty easy to get Peter out of bed, strangely this time it was Remus that he had trouble with. Remus rarely ever slept well, and Sirius hated waking him in the rare occurrences that he did, but he knew Remus would be upset if they didn't get him up.

They were halfway to the common room before any of them spoke.

"This is going to be so much fun." James whispered

"I know, I'm so glad you though of this." Sirius gave James another high five.

"What if we get caught?"

"Peter stop worrying" James whispered sternly.

"But..."

"Shush." Both Sirius and James whispered when they neared the Slytherin common room for the second time. Sirius gave the password and was glad that they only changed once a year.

James peeked in as the wall turned into a passage way. "Clear" he said and walked in. They followed. Sirius and James worked on changing the furniture, while Remus did the decorations and fireplace. They decided to do the walls, ceiling , and floor tie-dieish.

When they were done they admired their handiwork before they headed back to the common room. They were halfway there when Peter could no longer hold it in and burst out laughing. Just the sight of the Slytherin common room all dressed up in red and gold was too much, he had tried to hold it in but couldn't. Unfortunately it was Lucius Malfoy that caught them. The glare Malfoy gave them was nothing compared to the glare Sirius gave Peter when they were forced to follow Malfoy to McGonagall's office. (Malfoy's a prefect)

McGonagall was furious. She sent Malfoy out, but not before he could shoot Sirius a smirk, successfully making Sirius angry. Thankfully for once he was able to hold it in.

"What do you think you were doing? Out after curfew, and no where near you common room no less! Probably trying to pull of another one of your jokes! I would expect this kind of behavior out of Black, after the way he has acted so far this year, but not from the rest of you! Your parents would be ashamed! Do you have any idea what your parents would do if the found out about this Potter! And you!" She turned to Remus. "If it weren't for Dumbledore you probably wouldn't even be here!" Remus paled. Sirius looked at him with questioning eyes, but he didn't return the gaze. Sirius seemed to be the only one that was even listening anymore. Peter looked like he wanted to run away screaming, and James almost looked like he was going to cry.

Sirius rolled his eyes. Amateurs.

They were all given a detention to be served out the next day, and she would call their parents as well as 30 points off Gryffindor each. When Professor McGonagall noticed that none of the punishments seemed to faze Black she realized that she would have to start getting as creative in her punishments as he was getting in his jokes. She sighed, it was rather hard to punish him for his little pranks when most of the time she just wanted to laugh at them herself.

As the boys walked back to the common room they were very silent. Sirius wanted to say something to cheer them up, but he knew nothing he said would help. To him, it was the worst feeling in the world. Their reactions surprised him a little, he tried to think back to the first time he got in trouble with someone besides his mother to see if maybe he had acted that way the first time too. He couldn't even remember the first time.

"How can that not bother you any?" James asked, it was one of the few things that he didn't understand about Sirius.

"I dunno, probably because I've been in trouble almost all my life. Or maybe just because I'm better at it than you." Sirius smirked hoping James would laugh.

"It's probably because you're a Black." Remus decided to add, what little color he had still hadn't come back. "No offence, but you've sorta been raised to be in trouble. Isn't that what they do?" Sirius thought about this for a second.

"You've got a point. It's probably a mix between those three reasons. Mostly the I'm better than you guys reason." James smiled and Peter laughed. He was halfway to his goal.

"But wouldn't that make you worse than us. If you don't mind being in trouble than your a bad kid. Thus we are better than you." Remus gave a smirk of his own. Sirius had to think about it for a second to understand what Remus had said, causing all of them to laugh. Even after thinking about it the best answer he could think of was "I know you are but what am I" causing them to laugh even more. He didn't realize that he had just agreed to them until they were halfway down the hall.

A/N I'm giving Sirius really good drawing skills and fancy handwriting. His family seems really uptight and stuff so I though it would make sense for his parents to teach him good penmanship.

Still want ideas. Thanks for reading ^_^


	9. The Marauders

Chapter 9

The Marauders

"I wonder what Professor McGonagall is going to think when she finds out about what we did to the Slytherin common room." James laughed, all thoughts of the detention and the calls to parents were forgotten. It once again amazed James how easily Sirius could change their moods, and in a good way too. He was defanetly not you typical Black.

"Do you think she'll know it was us."

"Of course she will, Peter, who else could it have been?" Remus answered, he was a little worried that they would get in even more trouble, but deciede to forget it. It was too late to worry about it now.

"I'm sorry I got us in trouble." Peter apologized sadly.

"It's alright Peter, it wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was. You do again Peter and I'll skin you alive." Sirius said almost angrily.

"Sirius don't be so hard on him, he didn't do anything wrong." James defended his friend

"If he can't be quiet I'm not taking him anymore."

"What made you think that you get to choose who comes and who doesn't." James stood and was glairing down at Sirus.

"The fact that I seem to be the only one who was listening to what Professor McGonagall said in there. She didn't exactly say it, but it sounded like if Remus gets into too much trouble they might kick him out." They were all surprised at this new information.

"What? What makes you think that?" James asked looking back and forth from Remus to Sirius. Remus paled for the second time that night.

"She said "If it wern't for Dumbledore you probably wouldn't even be here!" Was I the only one paying attention or what?" Sirius quoted

"Why wouldn't you be here?" James was very confused, he though every witch or wizard was allowed in.

"Ummm..." Remus trailed off. He was terrified, if they found out he would be alone again.

"If he doesn't want to tell us then he don't have to, mate. Still though, we need to be more careful." Remus was instantly greatful to Sirius.

"Thanks." He said quietly.

"No Prob, Remmy." Remus sighed, sooner or later he was going to have to get used to that stupid nickname.

"Does that mean I can't go anymore." Peter said sadly.

"Of course not Peter." Sirius half glared at James. "You just have to try to keep quiet a little better."

Peter nodded "I will I promise."

"Unfortunetly now Professor McGonagall knows your working with me. So anything I do you'll be suspected now too. Which means I can't take credit for them." Sirius complained.

"What if they didn't know it was you?" Remus thought outloud.

"You mean like a nickname?" Sirius thought of this for a second. "I like that idea, but here's an even better one. What if we all have a nickname? Like a name for our little group."

They all loved that idea. The problem was they couldn't agree on the name. They knew there couldn't be any connection between this name and any of their names. They didn't even want to risk their initials, not with Remus' education on the line.

Remus remembered a word that Professor McGonagall herself had called them. Maraders, wouldn't it be ironic that the teachers own words would come back to haunt her.

"What about The Marauders?" Remus suggesed, he really liked it and was prepared to defend it. Surpisingly he didn't have to.

"Marauders, I love it" Sirius was the first to respond.

"Me too." Peter said happily. He was still happy that he was still allowed to hang out with them.

"Yes, finally something we agree on." James cheered. "What does it mean?"

"It's basically a name used for troublemakers, although it is usually used to describe pirates and stuff. I got it from Professor Mcgonagall."

"Oh that's kinda bad, I mean if you got it from her won't she know that it's you that's using it?" For once it was Sirius that noticed a problem.

"No, she wasn't talking to me when she said it. She basically was talking to herself."

"Oh that's better. Great Marauders it is then. We are The Marauders! That totally rocks." Sirius cheered and gave Remus a high five. Remus was surprised, usually James was they only one that got a high five.

"It does rock, and it's even better because we are the only ones that know about it." James said also giving Remus a high five.

"Wooho." Peter cheered half heartedly "Can we go to sleep now?"

They laughed, and went to bed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next morning at breakfast came a harsh reminder of why James,Remus, and Peter did not want their parents to be called. None of them got Howlers but they received very stern letters from their parents. Remus' almost made him cry. James began to regret last nights redecorating, that is until the Slytherins came in the room. All of which looked extreemly angry. James and Sirius both laughed at them. Remus chucled a bit but look at Professor McGonagall, whom had just been told of the Slytherin common room by the their head of house.

Remus was shocked when she burst out laughing. He elbowed Sirius and pointed to her.

"The head of the Slytherin house just told her about what we did to their common room." Sirius' mouth hung open.

"Are you sure that is what he said? Maybe he just told her a joke or something." Remus just shook his head. He had specifically heard him telling her, but he wasn't going to tell Sirius that he heard their conversation from so far away. "So she does have a since of humor after all." Sirius was smiling as the Slytherin head of house stood up and spoke to the school. He told them all that the colors of the common had changed from silver and green to red and gold, resulting in laughing from the entire Gryffindor house.

"We assure you that we will have the Slytherin common room back to normal by the end of the week." The news that it would take the rest of the week to fix it caused another round of laughing from the Gryffindors. Once it died down to a low roar he continued. "We will also find the culprits behind it and they will be severly punishied." He was looking angrier and angrier by the second.

"I forgot how much they hate us." Peter was starting to worry again.

"I think it's time to give The Marauders a little attention." Sirius said. James nodded and stood up.

"What are you doing?" Remus wispered. James winked.

Professor McGonagall noticed James standing. She was almost sure he and his little group were to blame for this. "What do you want Potter?" Everyone turned to his direction.

James had extreem trouble trying to hide his smile, it would ruin the whole thing. He sucked in a breath and said loudly. "We saw who did it." Remus slammed his head on the table. "Calm down Remus they won't hurt anyone they were just bluffing." Remus pretended to ignore him, he had no idea what was going on. Peter didn't either but decided to join in anyway.

"How do you know that?" He said and James smiled at him, but Sirius was the one to answer.

"Did you even look at them? Their a bunch of troublemakers, and I can tell when a troublemaker is bluffing."

"What on earth are you talking about?" Professor McGonagall grew serious, she knew these boys well enough that she knew that she could not tell if they were lieing or not. Usually students were easy to read, but not these boys.

"The Marauders." James said simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Wispers broke out amoung the Great Hall.

"And who are they?' She couldn't help but believe them, she didn't like not trusting students.

Sirius stood and answered this question. "We don't know exactly, they looked like ghosts. Although they wern't see though or intangable, but they were as silent as ghosts."

Professor McGonagall was surprised by this information. If they were making this up they were doing a very good job of it.

"We saw them yesterday and they mentioned that they were going to redecorate the common room to celibrate Godric Gryffindor's birthday, which is today by the way." James told them.

"And why didn't you say something to someone before now?" Professor Dumbledore asked, he was quite amused with this whole situation.

Sirius laughed. " Duh, because it was going to be hilarius. I only with that I had though of it before they did." Professor McGonagall sighed, she should have expected such an answer.

Dumbledore just laughed. "I assume by the way Mr. Lupin is acting I assume that they threatened you in some way." The way he said that made Remus paranoid that he knew they were lieing.

"Ya, they threatened hurt all of us if we told anyone. They were lieing of course, Like they could hurt any of us." James smirked. Remus just continued pounding his head on the table. This was the worst idea they ever had. He was sure that everyone would know that they lied

James and Sirius sat back down and continued eating. Of course, not before Sirius looked at the Slytherin table and saw many of them glareing at him. They didn't believe in any way shape or form that Sirius hadn't been directly involved. Bellatrix's glare seemed to be the most peircing though. It almost scared him, almost.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Everyone came up and asked the same questiones over and over about the Marauders. At first they loved all the attention, but after the thirtieth time they were getting tired of telling the same story over and over again. The Slytherins never changed their mind that Sirius was to blame and everyonce in a while they tried to get revenge. It never worked of course. Sirius could see though it all.

It was when they got back to the common room after Defence against the Dark Arts class that they found the note. Flying lessons were about to begin. This was the best knews they heard all day, exept of course that it would take a week for them to get the Slytherin comman room back to normal.

"I can't wait, that is the only thing I miss from home. Flying! I hope they don't go into detail about how to do it and just let us fly." Sirius flopped over the back of the couch.

"Boy, this is going to be fun. I wonder if their going to let us play Quidditch." James agreed.

"Probably not, it isn't really that long of a class. Only a few days, and they will go into detail about it, you know some of us have never flown before right." Remus rolled his eyes and went back to studying.

"What! Never flown before, how could you have not flown before!" Sirius looked like he was going to have a heart attack.

"I've never flown before either." Peter said quietly.

"Well I can understand Peter, I mean he falls enough on the ground, let alone in the air. But I don't understand why you haven't Remus, I mean you have really good balance." Sirius questioned.

"I'm a half blood, Sirius. My mum is a muggle." Remus tried to explain

"So, why didn't you dad teach you?" Remus sighed.

"Because he was trying to hide it from my mum." James burst out laughing. "Ya, he knew it was stupid, but he also knew he should have told her before they got married. He forgot to then, and now he was sure that she would be ticked when she found out."

"Was she?" Sirius couldn't hold back the laughter any more.

"Very, it was the only time I ever heard her yell at anyone." They all laughed. "You should have seen her face when we got my letter, and then after Dad told her that he had known all along. She looked like she was going to kill him."

They didn't stop laughing and joking about it until they were sure that they were going to fall asleep standing if they didn't get to bed.

A/N Yes I can finally stop calling them 'James and the others' Wooohooo sorry kinda hyper here.

And now not so hyper. I haven't gotten any revewes from the last three chapters. _ It's making me sad. Someone tell me they like my story or something. I'm starting to get kind of emo over here. I may just decide everyone hates it and stop wrighting it. The more reviews I get the more I know people like it. Then i'm able to get more motivated into it. So the more reviews I get the faster I update.


	10. Some Gryffindor

Chapter 10

Some Gryffindor

"Finally, I feel like I've been waiting for this forever." Sirius said as they walked towards the Quidditch pitch.

"We just found out about it three days ago, Sirius." James laughed though he knew how Sirius felt, he was exited to.

"Ya, but I haven't been able to get on a broomstick in a month. Did you see the new one that just came out?" He asked and they got into a very detailed conversation about the new Cleansweep that just come out.

Remus just sighed and stuck with Peter in an effort to calm him down. Sirius was right; Peter and broomsticks didn't seem like a very good combination. To tell you the truth Remus was also worried, he really didn't want to get hurt on top of one of those things.

"Alright I want everyone to pick a broom." Their teacher told them without even bothering to introduce themselves. When they were all standing by a broom she continued. "Good now put your right hand over the broom and say up! Alright go ahead." She said and they started to do as she told them. Only three came up the first time, Sirius, James, and Frank Longbottem. This successfully calmed Remus, obviously this wasn't just his and Peter's first time doing this. After fifteen minutes, the only one that didn't work was Peter's. Peter was completely and totally afraid of it, and somehow it could tell.

The teacher sighed. "Alright Pettigrew just pick up the broom." She said impatiently. Peter turned red and picked up the broom. "Now I want everyone to mount their brooms like this." She showed them how to mount their brooms, while ignoring Sirius' groans. They copied and she walked around and checked everyone's grip. Sirius and James of course were doing it perfectly, Remus's hands were spread too far apart, and she had to constantly remind Peter that the broom wasn't going to eat him and it was ok to touch it, but other than that they did pretty well so far. Even after she had them kick off the ground no one fell off or anything, although Peters shook quite a bit. Overall, it was a pretty good lesson.

That didn't stop Sirius and James from complaining about it on the way back to the common room.

"We didn't even get to move around any. It was so boring." Sirius said and flopped over the back of the couch again, so he was sitting upside-down again.

Remus decided to change the subject. "Did you guys get that Defense Against the Dark Arts report done?"

"Ya, last night. Not sure how right it is though. "James answered and Sirius nodded.

"You copied each other didn't you?" It wasn't a question he already knew they had.

"No, we just worked together. And don't say that's cheating because he didn't say that we couldn't do that."

"That doesn't mean you can do it." Remus gave up and started to read a book he had borrowed from the library.

"Hey Remus, since we have no homework to do, and we still have five hours till curfew, and you've read that book four times now, can we go work on the map." Sirius asked, he didn't like how long it had been since they worked on it. They had finally gotten the outside done, now they needed the inside.

"I have not read this four times, only twice." He said, but put the book down anyway. "Where do you want to start?" He asked as Sirius ran up to get the map.

"It makes more sense to start at the ground floor. It is the only floor that we are 100 percent positive we have the measurements right." James answered. Sirius came down the stairs in a rush and they headed for the first floor entrance

"We want to make this as accurate as possible, so we want to start by finding out how thick the wall of the entrance is." Remus said and went to measure the entrance. After they finished with the entrance they measured how wide the room was and how far away the walls were from the door. Calling them accurate would be an understatement. They even measured how high the room was though they didn't think that they would need that. They didn't realize that they were out past curfew until McGonagall showed up and gave them all detentions.

"There has to be a faster way to do this. There is no way we are going to get this done in time." Sirius complained when they got back to their dorm.

"Calm down we have a whole year, and the rooms we just did were really big. Although there are ways to go faster. Such as cutting out some of the unnecessary measuring. Like how tall the room is. Completely unnecessary, we're making a map, not a 3-D model."

"True, that did feel rather ridiculous."

"It was your idea, James," Sirius teased as they went to bed.

That night Remus wasn't the only one having trouble sleeping. Sirius was having nightmares. He tried to keep quiet so no one woke up, but Remus wasn't fooled. He had enough of them to recognize them without even trying. At first, he ignored it, knowing Sirius would rather deal with it himself, but after Sirius woke up half screaming the third time Remus knew he had to help. He walked over to Sirius' bed, not as quietly as he could have, but he didn't want to scare Sirius again.

"Sirius are you alright?" Sirius sighed and sat up.

"Either you're an extremely light sleeper or I wasn't near as quiet as I thought." Sirius chuckled humorlessly. Remus noticed he was shaking.

"I wasn't asleep," he said reassuring Sirius. Remus sat down at the end of the bed. "And I'm a light sleeper." He laughed trying to make him feel better. Sirius smiled pretending it helped. Remus could see though it easily though.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Remus asked hoping the answer was yes.

"Not really." Sirius looked down at his feet. He didn't even want to think about it let alone talk about it.

"Are you sure? It might help you feel better." Sirius just nodded. "Ok, you don't have to. Do you want me to stay here or do you think your okay on your own?" Sirius though about this for a while. Choosing between feeling better and maintaining his pride. He looked at himself curled up in a ball, shivering like crazy, and realized that he didn't have much pride left at the moment.

"Stay" he said quietly. He hated that he felt like he needed someone with him. Remus just smiled, sat next to him, and leaned on the headboard.

"You can lie down if you want, I don't want you to lose any sleep because of me." Remus just shook his head and laughed.

I'm not going to get any sleep no matter what position I'm in. Trust me you aren't depriving me of anything" He said and closed his eyes.

"How do you know that?" Sirius asked trying to keep the conversation going. It was one of the few times he was putting off going to sleep.

"I can just feel it." He said in a tone that made Sirius sure that Remus didn't want to talk about it. So he changed the subject.

"Do you really think that we can get this map done by the end of the year?" Remus smiled he knew Sirius changed the subject on purpose and once again thanked God that he had such good friends. Most other people would have just kept perusing an answer.

"Believe it or not I really think we can."

"Really? But you were so sure it wasn't possible." That was all he needed to reassure him, if Remus though they could do it than they could do it. There was no doubt in his mind anymore.

I guess I changed my mind." Sirius laughed and lay down.

"I'm glad." Sirius was getting really tired, but was afraid to close his eyes. He didn't want to see his mother again that night. Wasn't enough that he was dreading going home, but now she has to haunt him at school.

"Go to sleep, Sirius" Sirius couldn't believe Remus could read him so well.

I'm not tired" he lied Remus chuckled.

"I'll wake you up if you start having another nightmare." Sirius nodded and closed his eyes, trusting Remus, and fighting off any fear he had. He chuckled, fear, he was afraid of his own mother. Some Gryffindor he was.

Thankfully, Remus didn't have to wake him up. Just having his friend beside him was enough to chase away all of Sirius' nightmares.


	11. Danger

A/N I made a small change to the last line of the chapter in order to make the title of the next chapter make more sense. It doesn't really effect the story though.

Chapter 11

Danger.

"This was a really bad idea. I mean, who cares what colors the Slytherin common room is. It wasn't even that fun!!!!!!!!!!"

"Blasphemy!" Sirius said and pretended to faint. "Not fun, who cares. Ah the words burn, Burn I tell you, burn!"

"Calm down guys. It is just a detention Remus, and Sirius by now you should be used to Remus' excessive worrying."

"Just a detention! I probably just ruined what little chance I have of actually getting a job when I graduate!" Remus complained as Sirius sat up.

"But James, he said it wasn't fun. Oh it hurts just to think it." He dramatically flopped on James' bed again.

"Remus one detention is not going to ruin anyone's career. Especially yours, with all those high grades you get. And will you stop acting like a drama queen Sirius, and get off of my bed." Sirius sat up and stuck his tongue out at James. "Oh, how mature." He rolled his eyes and walked out the door. Peter followed, he was still to afraid of Sirius to be around him while James was not around. Sirius looked at Remus and they laughed. Operation Drive-Jameswas ago. They had decided to do it after Sirius woke up and James and Peter were still in bed. Sirius had been in a very good mood because he hadn't had anymore nightmares.

They didn't know why, but teasing James seemed fun.. Peter had no Idea, Sirius was worried he couldn't keep a secret very well.

They were laughing all the way down to breakfast. As soon as James was in sight of course they stopped laughing. They argued over the importance of keeping a clean criminal record during breakfast until they all received notes from Professor McGonagall to meet her in her office when they were done eating. After this both Remus and James lost their appetites and waited for Sirius and Peter to finish eating.

"Gosh, you both are way over reacting. What is the worst thing that can happen, we have to write 'I will not stay up after curfew' a hundred times." Sirius said taking his time eating.

"Just because you don't care about your future doesn't mean we can't." Remus said and they started arguing again.

"If you guys don't shut up I'm going to leave without you!" James said and didn't give them a chance to stop. He just left. Peter swallowed a pancake whole and followed. Remus and Sirius just burst out laughing.

"This is really mean." Remus said, trying to convince himself to stop. It was just too much fun though.

"I know." He finished eating and they headed after James and Peter. When they got to the teachers office James glared at them. Sirius gave him an apologetic smile. He couldn't help but apologize even if they were just pretending.

"All right, a few of the teachers need some help with some things, I will be sending one of you there to help each of them for you detentions." Professor McGonagall told them when she realized they were there.

"You mean you're splitting us up?" Sirius hadn't counted on being apart from them. This aspect made their fun almost not worth the detention.

"Of course, you didn't expect me to actually allow you to stay together and completely blow this off did you?" She said and Remus paled again. He had known that this detention would be unbearable. Potter you will go to Professor Slughorn's room," James sighed, no doubt Slughorn will want him to organize his potion ingredence or something. Incredibly boring, but not hard. "Pettigrew will go to Professor Flitwick's room," Peter was almost glad, he was afraid she would pair him up with Hagrid. He was still afraid of the half-giant. "Lupin you will head outside to Hagrid's hut," Remus almost smiled, she must have known he would be freaked. Otherwise she wouldn't have paired him up with the one person that completely understood him. "And Black will stay here with me." Sirius winced; she was the last person he wanted to have detention with. He was sure she didn't like him because he was almost failing in her class. He couldn't help that he stunk at Transfiguration.

"Yes ma'am." They said and James, Peter, and Remus left.

"What do you want me to do Professor?" Sirius asked dreading the answer.

"Well Black, seeing you are almost failing in my class, I figured I would make sure that you at least got a little studying in for the test Monday." Sirius just stared at her, he wasn't sure that he had heard her correctly. Did she really just say she wanted him to study for his detention? "I want you do well in my class, Black. If you aren't going to study on your own, than I suppose I am going to have to make you." He just nodded; the truth was that he had studied, a lot. He quit because it wasn't helping any, no matter how much time he put into reading that Transfiguration book, it still made no more since than if were in a different language. Actually it made less sense, he was multilingual.

"Sirius, I want you to tell me if any of the things we are doing in that class makes any sense to you." She asked. She didn't understand why he was excelling in every class but hers. She also couldn't figure out why he hadn't asked her for help. Sirius stared at the floor and shook his head. She sighed, no wonder he hadn't said something to her, he was embarrassed by it. He was after all a Black, to them weakness was a disgrace. That was her least favorite quality of the Blacks. Sure they were evil and wicked to others, but when they shunned on of their own was when she began to hate them. Everyone has a weakness. She had seen more than one Black shunned for being so called weak. Perhaps that is why she was so worried about this one. They already hated him for the house he was sorted in, if they found out about his lack of skill in her class, he would never be welcomed back.

She sighed again. "All right Black, we will start from the beginning then." She said and continued to tutor him; it didn't take long for her to figure out why he couldn't get it. The trick to transfiguration was to be able to picture what you were trying to turn the object into in your mind. He couldn't do that, all he saw in his mind was the object it was, not what he wanted it to become. He wasn't the first student that had trouble with it, although his case was worse than anyone else. By the end time McGonagall had told him that they were had been at it much longer than necessary he was able to do small transfigurations with his eyes closed, he could picture it easier that way. He was also feeling hopeful. Maybe he could pass after all. When he went to leave something on her desk caught his eye. A book on Animagi

She caught him staring.

"Are you going to try it?" He asked when she grabbed the book. She sighed and smiled.

"I may. I haven't fully made a choice yet."

"You should. If anyone can do it you probably could. You are a transfiguration teacher after all." He smiled. "One of my uncles tried it once."

"Really." He never saw a Black on the list of registered Animagi, though it wouldn't surprise her if he was unregistered.

He nodded. "I think they are going to let him out of St. Mungos in a month in a half." He thought about what he had just said and chuckled nervously. "I supposed I shouldn't have mentioned that." Professor McGonagall just shook her head. That really didn't make her any more confident that she should do it. "But I'm sure that wont happen you," he said trying to make up for it. "You won't blow yourself up or anything like he did." She paled a bit. Sirius laughed nervously. "Maybe I should just go now" he slowly walked towards the door as she nodded. Sirius shut the door behind him and breathed a sigh of relief. He was so glad to be out of there. He almost smacked himself, why did he tell her about his uncle. "I am such a moron." He said as he walked towards the Gryffindor common room.

"I can't argue with that." Sirius quickly turned around when he heard the high pitched voice. He instantly recognized it.

"Bella." He said as she walked out from under a shadow.

"Well well well, If it isn't little Sirius." She said with an evil look in her eyes. Sirius began to back away; he hadn't realized how scared he was of her.

"Go away Bella, you're going to get in trouble." He said although he was more worried about how much trouble he was in right now. He looked around, there was no one there but the two of them, somehow he doubted there was anyone close enough to help him. He thought about running, but the closest safe place was McGonagall's office and she was blocking that path.

"Aww how cute, he is worried I'll get in trouble." She took a step towards him as he backed away, still looking for an exit. "Don't bother, Malfoy's distracting all the Prefects and no teachers are out at this time of night." Sirius moaned so they were working together, he should have known.

"Go away Bella or I'll...I'll." He stuttered.

"You'll what?" she laughed "Petrify me, please." Sirius backed away even more, he knew she was right, compared to her he knew absolutely nothing about magic. There was no way out, he couldn't run faster than her, and Malfoy would make sure that there was no one close enough to hear him scream for help.

He was stuck and Bellatrix was getting closer. He was also scared to death. Sirius half chuckled and once again though about how little he resembled a Gryffindor. Gryffindors were supposed to be brave, and here he was scared half to death of his cousin.

Bellatrix smirked and rose her wand. "You'll pay for what you did to our family, you mutt." She said as she shot a curse at him. Sirius screamed and ran; he didn't even have enough time to take out his wand before she struck him with a different hex. He screamed again, this time in pain, and fell flat on his back. She laughed, and walked closer to where he had fallen. He winced; she had almost the same voice as his mother. It reminded him way too much of his nightmares last night... He tried to stand but couldn't stay up long enough; she had hit him in the stomach. She stood over him and laughed again. "What's wrong? I thought you were supposed to be the best." He winced again and regretted telling her that now that he was going to Hogwarts too that he would be better then her.

"Go away." He struggled to get to his feet.

"Here, let me help you!" Bellatrix levitated him off the floor and slammed him against a wall. She laughed as fell face first to the ground, and laughed even harder as he tried to stand. She raised her wand again "Crucio!" Sirius screamed, possibly louder than he ever had before. The pain was unbearable; burning alive couldn't have hurt worse than this. He had never wished for death before this moment.

"Expelliarmus" The pain instantly stopped, he couldn't look up to see who had saved him and he didn't need to. James had found him.

He could barely feel it when someone picked him up. He forced himself to open his eyes just to see Remus' worried face as he looked at the wound on his stomach. James was blocking Sirius from Bellatrix's view.

The amount of anger in Bellatrix's eyes was nothing compared to what James was feeling. No one hurt his brother, this girl was going to pay, and James was going to make sure of it. Unfortunately he was only a first year and didn't know much magic. He was determined though and resorted to muggle fighting. He remembered a time when his mother had told him that violence never made you feel better. She had been wrong. It felt so good when his fist connected with her face, too good to resist doing it again. She may have been seven years older, but she had nothing on him in this fight. She didn't even have her wand any more.

"ENOUGH!" James stopped mid punch when he heard McGonagall's voice. He looked at her and let go of his strangle hold on Bellatrix's neck. She coughed and glared at Peter who had just come out from behind McGonagall. James had sent him to get help while he and Remus helped Sirius. "You all will come with me." Bellatrix opened her mouth to protest. "ALL OF YOU!" McGonagall yelled. James walked over to Sirius and helped him stand. Remus helped as well. They were practically carrying him. Bellatrix glared at everything the whole way. She was unable to glare at them as she was walking in front; James refused to take his eyes off of her. She knew he was a disgrace to the family for being in Gryffindor, what she hadn't known is that he had made friends with the heir to the blood traitor family in the wizarding world. Being in Gryffindor was bad enough, but making friends with a Potter was so far across the line that there were no words for it. If she was angry before it was nothing compared to now.

Her anger still didn't even come close to how James felt. He had never hated someone before, but he now knew what it felt like. It didn't really feel good, but it didn't feel bad either. He knew he couldn't have quenched the anger and hatred he felt, and he didn't try. It felt somehow right to hate her. Like she needed to be hated.

Remus didn't feel any of this. All he felt was worry. He had never heard of the spell she had used, he didn't know what it did. Seeing Sirius scream like that didn't help at all. It sounded like he was being burnt from the inside out. What if it had messed with his internal organs? He couldn't die from it could he?

When they got to McGonagall's office she opened the door for them. "In! Now!" she said too angry to form coherent sentences. They walked in and James and Remus sat Sirius down in one of the chairs, he leaned on James not able to support himself yet. No one else bothered to sit. "I WANT TO KNOW WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED OUT THERE!" No one had ever seen her so angry. Even Bellatrix who had her as a Charms teacher for six years.

"Bellatrix attacked Sirius." James said. If looks could kill Bellatrix would be in more pain than Sirius had been.

"I was only trying to defend myself." She lied.

"BULL" James yelled and was going to lunge at her. Remus predicted his reaction and held him back. He pointed to Sirius who looked as though he was going to fall asleep on James. James glared at her again but didn't move in fear of hurting Sirius.

McGonagall sighed calming herself down. "Enough. Potter, Lupin, Pettigrew take Mr. Black to the hospital wing and stay there with him. I want to talk to him when he wakes up, I want one of you to come and get me when he does." They did as they were told.

"I'll bet she is telling Professor McGonagall some crap about Sirius attacking her." James said when they had gotten Sirius to the hospital wing and laid him on one of the beds. Madam Pomfrey instantly came out.

"What happened?" She said running towards Sirius.

"One of the Blacks attacked him." James said. He didn't know her name and didn't really care to find out.

She sighed "I knew it; I knew it would happen, but do they listen to me? Nooooo" She said talking to herself more than them now. "I told them they should switch him to Slytherin, I told them they would do this. But nobody listens to the healer." She continued but they drowned her out. The very idea of Sirius being in Slytherin was almost painful.

They stayed with him knowing he wouldn't want to be alone when he woke up. They also wanted to make sure McGonagall heard his side of the story as well as Bellatrix's. If that meant staying up with him for a month they would do it. Peter fell asleep on one of the beds waiting for him to wake. James and Remus would rather have died than slept when Sirius was so badly injured. Madam Pomfrey had told them that he would be fine, but for some reason Sirius found him not believing her. He was probably just over worried.

It didn't take him that long to wake up after Peter fell asleep. He freaked out a little at first because he didn't know where he was but they calmed him down easily enough. Remus went to get Professor McGonagall while James stayed with Sirius. Of course he couldn't help but rant about Bellatrix. Sirius had told him her name when he got tired of him calling her 'that girl'.

"You wouldn't believe what she tried to say in McGonagall's office.'I was just trying to defend mysell' my butt. It took everything I had to keep from smacking her right then and there." Sirius laughed.

"Ow," James looked at him in concern "It hurts to laugh." James laughed as well.

They were still laughing and joking around when the doors opened and McGonagall and Remus came in. She woke up Peter as she passed him.

"Potter, Lupin, and Pettigrew, it is way past curfew, go back to your common room and get some sleep." She told them. Remus began to protest but she just shooed them off.

"I'm staying here." James said absolutely refusing to leave.

"James I'll be..." Sirius began but he interrupted.

"I'm not leaving." He said. McGonagall only had to look at him to know that there was no way she was going to get him to leave of his own free will.

"All right Potter, you can stay, but only you. You two need to go to bed." She looked at Remus and Peter. Remus looked at Sirius who nodded and they both left. "Potter, I want to speak to Black privately." James nodded and walked to the other side of the room, his eyes not leaving Sirius once he got there.

"Alright Sirius, I want you to tell me what happened." McGonagall said and sat at the end of his bed. He attempted to sit up and she helped him. Then he began to explain. He told her everything. Even about how scared he was. He didn't know why but it was easy to tell her about personal stuff like that. The only thing he didn't tell her was that Bella had used the Cruciatus curse on him. He needn't her to believe him, and there was no way she was going to believe that a seventeen year old girl knew how to use the Cruciatus curse. Whether she was a Black or not. When he was done he could tell she believed him.

The next day Bellatrix ended up with no less than twenty detentions, the Slytherins were down by around a hundred points and her transfiguration grade plummeted. (McGonagall knew calling her parents would be useless so she dropped her transfiguration grade instead.)

Unfortunately Bellatrix made sure that Sirius' punishment was far worse than hers

* * *

A/N) hehehe I'm mean. Poor Sirius he gets beat up and now he is in trouble. You have to wait to find out what happened.

Was this a good chapter? I really hope it was, this may be the first fighting scene I've done.


	12. Bellatrix’s Revenge

Chapter 12

Bellatrix's Revenge

Sirius had just gotten away from Madam Pomfrey when he received a howler from his mother. He just stared at it when his family's owl had dropped it in front of him and left to deliver a letter to Bellatrix.

"What'd I do wrong now?" He asked as the howler started to catch on fire like it was going to explode any second. This time it wasn't just Sirius, James, and Remus who ran away from it. This time everyone within a three yard radius ran. Peter had just barely caught up to them when it exploded. The reaction was almost the same as last time. There was a lot of screaming, though this time; the howler completely drowned it out. Sirius wondered if it was even possible that a noise could be so loud. That is until he heard what she was saying. Bella had told her about his friends.

James couldn't believe it; he had never been insulted so badly in his life. Insults like blood traitor and disgrace weren't even harsh enough to be called the tip of the iceberg as far as Walburga Black was concerned.

Those were almost nothing to what she called Remus. It was one thing for Sirius to be friends with a blood traitor; it was something entirely different to be one yourself. Though the former was bad enough. In Walburga's mind the second Sirius became friends with Remus; he had become a blood traitor. Remus knew that there was any way she was going to forgive Sirius. He could hear in her voice, let alone her words. Remus didn't even know half the words she used to insult him. Though Sirius seemed too. He was shaking like crazy. Remus couldn't figure out if he was angry or if he was about ready to cry. He soon found out though. The howler wasn't the only thing that exploded that morning.

Sirius began screaming words that matched what she was saying. Words that no one outside of the Black family probably understood. He took out his wand and started firing random, unknown, anger-provoked hexes at the magic proof object. James and Remus had to hold him back and attempt to take his wand away, because he was hitting people with those hexes. Suddenly the howler disappeared though Sirius' anger didn't. He was still yelling at the empty air. It was one of the few times that Sirius actually bared a small resemblance to his mother. He had obviously inherited her strong vocal cords.

Dumbledore stood in front of them looking as though he was having a hard time remaining calm. Sirius closed his eyes and began to cry though he was still yelling.

"Sirius open your eyes." Dumbledore bent down to Sirius' eye level. Sirius just yelled more and attempted to break free of James' and Remus' hold on him. His words were still aimed more towards his mother than Dumbledore though there were a few they were sure were aimed at the old man.

Dumbledore sighed and touched him on the forehead. Sirius impedingly passed out.

"Take him to his dormitory. He needs some time to calm down." He told them. James and Remus nodded carrying him to their dorm. Peter walked slowly behind. He was scared of Sirius before now he was nothing short of terrified.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

When Sirius finally woke up they had already missed half their classes for the day. It took him a while to figure out why he was sleeping in his dorm instead of the History of Magic classroom, but when he did the others soon found out. Thankfully he wasn't screaming anymore, or attempting to hex anyone. James and Peter just sat on their beds and let him rant about it. They had decided not long after they had got to the dorm that it would be best just to let him calm himself down, hoping that he was capable of doing that. Peter had decided he needed to go to the bathroom as soon as Sirius woke up. They ignored him knowing that he was scared of Sirius.

Sirius looked at James and Remus. "Are you guys ok?" He asked. He had just realized that he wasn't the only one that should be upset by this. They just nodded.

"Are you?" James asked. Sirius thought about this for a second. Then nodded.

"I'm alright" He said and sat down beside James. Remus came over and sat on his other side.

"Are you sure? You were pretty upset." Remus had a worried look on his face. Sirius nodded.

"Thanks for letting me bore you to death with my rant." Sirius smiled. "I'm sorry I got so mad." Sirius looked down at his feet his smile fading. "It's just that I... I finally feel like I belong somewhere and you guys are like the friends I never imagined that I could have. Now she is trying to take that away from me. But I won't let he, I swear I won't. You guys care about me more than she ever will." He said successfully bringing Remus to tears. James was close as well.

"Enough of this." James said "If I start crying you're sleeping in the common room." They laughed.

"You wouldn't do that to me… I just got out of the Medical Wing; you wouldn't make me sleep downstairs would you."

"I definitely would …but then again, you did just turn half the Slytherins in the Great Hall into turkeys right in front of the teachers and still managed to keep from getting in trouble so I may be able to let it slide. That right there deserves a reward." James said laughing. One of the random hexes that Sirius had fired at the howler had done exactly that. The all began laughing. Remus then knew that everything was alright and everything would continue to be alright for a very long time.

It wasn't until they were already out of school that they found out that Dumbledore had gone out and had a little talk with Mrs. Black. No student was going to be abused verbally or otherwise while he was headmaster of Hogwarts.

* * *

A/N) Hi. I don't have much to say but thanks to those who reviewed.

Oh, and I still need prank ideas. I am hoping to have them do a good one for Halloween, but it can't have too much magic in it because they are still young. All the ones I can think of require them to have more advanced skills. If I can't think of anything I may just have to make them have a normal Halloween, and I don't want that. Please help me think of something.

Thanks in advance and I hope you like the story so far.

Hehe I typed most of this chapter on my new laptop.


	13. Up to no good

Chapter 13

Up to no good.

"What are you reading Rem?" Sirius asked and peeked over his shoulder. He knew that Remus didn't mind when people read over his shoulder.

"It is a book I brought from home. You wouldn't like it." Remus was sitting on his bed covered in blankets. He seemed to be cold for some reason. No matter how hard Sirius tried he couldn't figure out what was wrong with Remus. He was extremely hot. He also didn't understand why Remus had such dark rings under his eyes. Compared to usual he had slept pretty well. It also couldn't have been from poor nutrition. At Hogwarts you would have to be literally starving yourself to have poor nutrition. He also looked paler and skinnier.

What worried Sirius the most is that Remus didn't even notice. He was obviously sick, but he didn't even seem to care. It drove Sirius crazy; when he was sick he made sure everyone knew it. He complained a lot when he wasn't feeling good.

"What are we going to do for Halloween?" James asked breaking Sirius from his thoughts.

"What?" Remus asked confused.

"Well it is tomorrow?" Remus still didn't understand. Sirius did though.

"I don't know, but it has to be good." Sirius said

"What has to be good?" Remus didn't like feeling confused.

"The prank of course, we can't just change something random colors or something. It has to be really good. We also need to do it to everyone, not just the Slytherins." Sirius rolled his eyes playfully.

"Oh, I should have known. Do you guys thing of anything but that?" James laughed already knowing Sirius' answer.

"Only when I have too." Sirius answered laughing also. Remus just shook his head and chuckled, Sirius had a one track mind.

"It can't be the traditional make-the- Slytherins- life- miserable kind of prank" James said. Remus got out a piece of parchment and a quill.

"What are you doing?" Sirius said getting up and looking over Remus' shoulder again.

"Writing down ideas, this time we are going to do it right." Sirius raised an eyebrow at him.

"Right?" If Sirius was sure of anything it was that they were excellent pranksters.

"If we are going to do a really good one we need to make sure there are no holes. Trust me it will be better this way." Remus said and labeled the paper.

Marauders Halloween prank year one

"What if someone sees it?" James asked.

"Ohhh, I know how to make sure they can't." Sirius said practically beaming.

"How?" Remus said. Anything that he could think of had way too advanced magic for first years.

"My mother taught me how, we need a password."

"How did she teach you? Isn't it against the law to do underage magic outside of Hogwarts?" Remus asked.

"There is a loophole in that law that no one cares about. The law doesn't count until you get of schooling age. They didn't care about the once younger because they thought they were too young to really do much. My grandpa found about it, and they have been using it ever since."

"Does the Ministry of Magic know about that?" James asked surprised that someone could manipulate the law like that.

"Ya, but it is too difficult to change the law and still don't think much of children so they don't bother." He explained as though it was everyone should know that.

"Weird" They said at the same time.

"To do it we need a password to make the stuff on the page show up." Sirius reminded. They all thought about it for a while.

"Does it have to be a single word?" Peter asked. Sirius shook his head. "What about our names?"

"Way to easy, what about 'The Marauders'" Remus asked.

"Still too easy, but I like the multiple word idea." Sirius said.

"Up to no good." Remus tried again.

"Um, I don't know. It doesn't sound very good." James said flopping down on his bed.

"It needs more." Sirius agreed

"I swear I'm up to no good." James improved.

"Oh, I like that. Now we need one to hide the information on the page."

"Well, obviously when we use it we will be up to no good, so when we are done with it we finished what we were doing." Remus thought out loud.

"Way to state the obvious Rem." Sirius teased.

"Mischief Managed." Remus smirked, knowing that they would like it. He wasn't disappointed. They smiled huge smiles.

"Perfect." Sirius and James said at the same time. Peter cheered.

"Cool, I'll show you how to do it." Sirius said and attempted to teach them how to do it. Peter was the only one who couldn't quite figure it out.

If Walburga knew how Sirius would use the spell she taught him she would have had a heart attack.

* * *

A/N Wow that was a short chapter, I don't like that. Oh well the next one will be longer.

Did I make them learn that spell to early? It seems like it should be a lot more advanced, but it just kinda fit. Oh well.

Wow I got four reviews on just the last chapter, Thanks. ^_^


	14. Making Plans

Chapter 14

Making plans

"We still haven't figured out what we are doing tomorrow," Remus reminded breaking James and Sirius from another argument. This time it was about which professional Quidditch team was the best. They had gone off on a rabbit trail not long after Remus figured out how to do the charm. Somehow, they started on Quidditch.

"Oh right." James remembered finally letting it drop.

"So what are we going to do?" Sirius asked, for once he didn't have a clue. Remus sighed.

"We need to think of ideas. Let's see…It is Halloween so it needs to be something that is scary." He said writing this down on the paper.

"Umm… We could dress up like zombies or something." Peter suggested, Sirius looked at him like he was stupid.

"Please tell me you're kidding." Remus began to write it down. "You're not actually considering this, are you Rem?" Remus sighed.

"No, but it may give us ideas in the future. I'm writing everything down." Remus said as he finished writing.

"What if we pretend one of us is dead?" James asked quickly giving up on that idea.

"No, we have classes tomorrow still; it would interfere with our studies." Remus said managing to remind them that their weekend was almost over.

"Also, where would the person go? I have a feeling they would find us way too easily." Sirius was rather upset that he couldn't think of anything good enough to use, it had never happened before. However, he had never tried to trick more than a few people at a time before.

"And way too unpredictable. What if they brought in the Ministry or something, we could get in major trouble." Remus wrote this down as well.

"We could go with the usual. Fake a murder scene." Sirius gave a try, though he didn't like how unoriginal it was.

"It seems to plain, they would see though it too easily." James suggested and began to pace.

"What if it isn't a murder, just an attack?"

"Ohh, good idea Remus, we could petrify people and write fake warnings on the walls." Sirius said finally liking an idea.

"But petrifaction is too obvious, all they have to do is use the reverse spell. No big deal. We need something better." They all looked at each other for a while.

"This means we have to go to the library, doesn't it." Sirius complained. Remus laughed and nodded. Sirius sighed as they headed out.

After they had so much trouble finding books about mapmaking Remus took it upon himself to memorize where to find just about anything in the library. Thankfully, it wasn't hard to find what they were looking for. It still took them a while to find a book that had what they were looking for, but when they did it was perfect. The spell was not difficult, but not well known. It had a counter spell that also was uncommon and not difficult. Even better was that it acted exactly like the petrifaction spell, but none of its counter curses would work. They were sure that Madam Pomfrey would not be able to figure out how to fix it.

It was also a very safe spell, Remus made sure of it. They even found out that if the counter spell wasn't performed on the victim by dawn the next morning then they would automatically turn back to normal and the victim wouldn't remember anything, which was good for the safety of the Marauders.

They took the book back and practiced on each other. It didn't take long and even Peter was able to get it. Though it took him a while because everyone but James was afraid to have him do it on them until they were sure he could do it right.

"Sirius, that was unnecessary." James said after Sirius used the spell on Peter again. Sirius had already gotten the spell down completely and didn't need to practice anymore it seemed that Sirius preferred practicing on Peter.

"Sorry, just wanted to make sure, we don't want anyone getting hurt or anything." Sirius said using the counter spell on Peter successfully waking him up.

"We also don't want Peter getting hurt, I'm surprised you haven't given him a concussion yet."

"So we have that part down, now what?" Remus asked before they could start fighting again.

"Well we can't just randomly petrify people; we want to make a plan right?" Sirius answered his question with another question.

"The question is, how do we want to display the 'victim'? Do we want to put other stuff with it, because if not I can't imagine it will be all that scary.

"Didn't we say we wanted to write warnings on the walls by them or something?" Peter asked.

"That's right, but what should we write and what with." James began pacing again.

"Well we obviously want to make it look like blood. We shouldn't worry too much about what we write. Trust me, anyone that is going to attack students somewhere as high security as Hogwarts isn't going to put really long threats on the wall. Not anyone that you need to worry about anyway." Sirius explained. Coming from a long line of dark wizards had taught him a few things about how to scare people.

"But we have to put something." James said still worried. Sirius sighed; he knew James was worried about being caught. If they were caught before everyone knows it is just a joke they could get in huge trouble. It was one of the few times James' family background was obvious. Potters were usually well behaving people, he was afraid of hurting his family reputation.

"Just let me worry about it, mate." Sirius said sparing his friend of the worry. No one would be surprised to see a Black doing something like this, and if they were it would only be surprised that the Black didn't actually kill anyone.

"Do I need to remind you all that it doesn't matter who is worrying about what to write if we don't have anything that could possibly make it look like blood." Remus complained, they were getting excessively ahead of their selves, which wasn't good when talking about something this serious.

"Do you think Professor Slughorn has any blood or anything for his potions we can steal?" Sirius looked to James as though he would know.

"No he mentioned that he needed to go get some when I was in detention Saturday." He shook his head still pacing.

"Darn." Sirius said. Remus wasn't listening anymore. When James mentioned detention it had reminded Remus of something Hagrid had said during his.

"I think Hagrid has some." He told them, not missing the morbidity of this conversation.

"What? Why would he have some?" Peter asked nearly freaking out. He was still very afraid of the half-giant.

"Dragon blood, I think. He had a new pet and he wasn't sure what it ate, so he grabbed some random stuff it just happened to be one of the few things it didn't like." Remus said hoping dragon blood would be a good substitute, he really didn't want to use human. Seeing human blood, other than his own as he has seen it so much, scared him. It reminded him to much of the werewolf in him.

"That would work perfectly, dragon blood and human blood is very close. No one could tell the difference unless they did a full examination of it." Sirius said. It somewhat scared Remus how much Sirius knew about this, but he chose to ignore it to protect his sanity. "The question is, how are we going to get it?"

"We are not going to steal it." James said in a tone that let in no argument.

"Why?" Sirius asked confused.

"Hagrid is really nice, but he is going to be upset if we steal something from him. I absolutely refuse to steal something from a half-giant. No way, not going to happen, you can't make me."

"What is wrong James, are you scared or something?" Sirius teased

"Yes, yes I am." Sirius was surprised that was so willing to admit it.

"I don't think we need to steal anything. I think if we tell him we need it for a potion he would let us borrow it." Remus told them.

"Really?" Sirius seemed surprised.

"Ya, he is pretty naive and he trusts me, so I think it would be fine. Actually, I think he would let us use it even if he knew what we were going to do with it. He has a pretty good sense of humor."

"Cool, let's go ask him" Sirius and James said at the same time and headed for the door. Peter moaned, he had hoped that he wouldn't have to go see the giant but now he didn't really have a choice.

They hurried down the halls. Of course they forgot that it was past curfew. Thankfully they weren't caught. Remus seemed to be the only one that noticed that it was dark when they ran across the grounds. He chose to ignore it as well, he knew they wouldn't care. He was a little worried that Hagrid would be upset for being out after curfew. He then remembered that this was Hagrid he was thinking about. Hagrid probably didn't even know what time curfew was.

When they got to Hagrid's hut they knocked and he opened the door. A smile quickly appeared on his face and he let them inside, also ignoring how late at night it was.

"Well ain't this a surprise, didn't expect to see you lot 'ere." He looked at them all, smiling at Remus.

"Hello Hagrid, My name is James Potter." James introduced, shaking Hagrid's hand. Hagrid nodded as though he had recognized him even though Remus was the only one that he had met. Remus wondered if the Potters were as recognizable as the Blacks were. James continued introducing Peter as well knowing that Peter wouldn't say a word in the giant's presence unless he absolutely had too.

"Nice ter meet ya" He said and then looked to Sirius. "Yer must be a Black" Sirius got a hard look on his face. He didn't like being called a Black at all.

"Sirius" he said though clenched teeth.

"Just ignore him, Hagrid. He has family issues." James said teasing Sirius, who in turn punched James lightly on the shoulder.

"Ah, right, I knew that. Sorry Sirius, didn't mean ter insult ya there." He smiled at Sirius, it wasn't new knowledge of course, he had already known that Sirius and the other Blacks weren't that close. Sirius smiled back, already over his anger.

"No problem" he said and sat on a chair by the kitchen table. Or well the table, there really wasn't much of a kitchen in the one room hut. It was tiny, especially when you think of who is living in it. James found himself wondering where Hagrid slept when Remus suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

"Um Hagrid, is something burning." He had a look on his face that made it obvious that he smelled something bad. Hagrid suddenly stood and hurried over to the oven.

"Oh no." He said as he held a plate of what looked like had once been cookies of some sort. He sighed and threw them out. "Oh well, no use crying over burnt cookies."

"Sorry Hagrid." Remus said as though it was his fault they burnt.

"Ah, don't yer worry 'bout it, It ain't yer fault." He said.

"Right, Remus." Sirius smiled at him. "He probably would have burnt them anyway." Remus gave him a hard look.

"Sirius…" he began but Hagrid just laughed.

"Yer probably right. They were burnt 'fore yer got 'ere." Remus rolled his eyes, just because it was right doesn't mean that it wasn't rude.

"Don't worry, I can't cook either. My attention span isn't long enough to make food. I get distracted half way though." Sirius laughed knowing that that is what happened to Hagrid. Hagrid laughed as well. Sirius proved how short his attention span was when something distracted him from his conversation with Hagrid.

"What?" James asked when Sirius slowly walked to the couch that took up most of the room in the hut.

"I hear something." They were all quiet, Remus heard it as well it sound like a dog panting.

"Oh thad be my dog. His name is…" Hagrid began but was interrupted when the said dog jumped on Sirius and he screamed. They all stared at said dog in silence for a minute worried about what Sirius was going to do. When the puppy 'attacked' him he fell over in shock, now he was staring up at the puppy while it tried to lick him in the face.

"H-Hagrid, I-I don't think this is a normal dog." Sirius said avoiding the not one, but three tongues that were trying to drown him in slobber.

"Ain't he cute." Hagrid said with a smile. "His name it Fluffy, strange though, he usually don't like strangers all that much. Wonder why he likes you so much."

"Hagrid that dog has three heads." James said still in complete shock that a three headed dog 'attacked' his friend.

"I know, bought him off a merchant at the Hogs Head in Hogsmeade. Ain't never seen another one." He said with obvious pride in his voice.

When Sirius finally got over his shock he lifted the puppy off him for a while trying to get away from the never-ending amount of slobber. "Wow, I've never seen one before." He set the puppy on the ground in front of him and as soon as he let go of it, it jumped on him again. This time he laughed. He pet the puppy and it seemed content to just let him pet it instead of licking him. "I always wanted a dog. Begged my mother to get me one. She absolutely refused, said that they were dirty disgusting animals that had no use being in anyone's home." He said the last part in the most sarcastic tone he could mutter.

"Well, now that's darn right wrong." Hagrid said, it looked like Sirius had hit a nerve. "Dogs are very good animals, Yer just got to train them right. Make some of the most loyal pets yer could have, dogs do. Yer treat them right an' they're do anything for ya." He ranted.

"I know that's what I thought. But Noooooooo," Sirius sighed. "She hates all animals." This obviously wasn't a person that Hagrid could ever get along with.

They were silent for a while when James finally remembered why they had come all the way out here in the middle of the night.

" Oh Hagrid, I forgot, we were wondering if we could barrow something." Hagrid looked to James and James looked at Remus telling him that since it was his idea he had to ask.

"Do you remember when I had detention here, you mentioned that you had a few things that you needed to get rid of? You said that you were going to try to feed it to a new pet in order to figure out what it ate." Remus asked and Hagrid nodded, so he continued "You said that you had some dragon blood."

"Ya, sure. Why you need it?" He said no traces of mistrust in his eyes.

"Ya, there is a potion we need to do, and that is the only ingredient we don't have." Remus lied. Sirius looked at him in shock. He had never expected Remus of all people to be a good liar. He seemed way to honest for it, but he could so well in fact that he was sure that even he would believe Remus, had he not already known what it was for. He was usually pretty good at telling when he was being lied too.

"Sure, no problem." Hagrid walked out to get it. Remus looked around him. It seemed Sirius wasn't the only one who noticed his lying skill.

"What?" He asked.

"Where did you learn to lie like that?" James said beating Sirius to the question. Remus' face turned red. "'Cause I want to learn too."

"Guess I'm just a natural." Remus said. Actually that was also a lie. When he was young he was horrible at lying. The only reason he could do it now is because he'd had so much practice doing it. It was sort of something you had to do when you're a werewolf.

"Dang, and I thought I was good." Sirius said and Remus blushed again. Fortunately for Remus, Hagrid's arrival distracted them.

"'Ere ya go." He said giving them a large jug of it. He didn't ask any more questions to their relief.

"Oh and Hagrid, can you do us a huge favor?" James asked more than a little shocked that it was so easy to get the stuff from him.

"Sure, what?" He said once again surprising them that he was so trusting.

"Can you not tell anyone that you gave this stuff to us? The potion we are making is going to be a surprise for the teachers; we don't want them to know about it before hand." James said smiling when Hagrid nodded.

"No problem." They said their goodbyes after that and started heading back to the school. They got halfway there when they realize that Fluffy had followed Sirius and he had to carry him back to Hagrid, causing them all to laugh. They quieted as soon as they got to the castle though. They had to be extra careful now that they had the blood. If they were caught with the stuff it would ruin all of their plans. Luck was on their side, they didn't see any teacher on their way to the dorm, and the Fat Lady was so sleepy that she barely noticed when they said the password to her.

Now all they had to do was wait until Halloween began.

* * *

A/N Phew, that was a long chapter, rather hard to write also. I hope I got Hagrid's speech right. I wasn't sure which words he shortened and stuff.

Hehe I can't wait till the next chapter. I really hope it's good. It is rather strange writing about Halloween in the middle of January.

Well see ya'll soon.


	15. Halloween

A/N: The best way to read this next chapter and the next two could be to copy and paste it into a word document. I used a different font for the words the Marauders wrote on the wall, it isn't near as cool with out it. What you would have to do is put all of what the Marauders wrote in the downloadable Parseltonuge harry potter font and put it at size 28. I really really wish i could use it on this site, but I can't. It really looks so much cooler that way. *pouts*

Chapter 15

Halloween

They all woke early, early enough that they were sure that if they left and started working on their hoax that there would be no one around for another few hours.

"There is a problem, if there is no one out then who are we going to petrify." Remus asked as the sneaked out of the common room. The curfew was in effect for another hour and a half.

"The prefects are out." Sirius said confidently. Remus stared at him for a while.

"We can't attack a prefect!" He said as urgently as he could, though he was whispering.

"Why not?" Sirius rolled his eyes. Even after all this time, they were still no more than armatures. James answered for Remus.

"Their fifth years and up Sirius."

"So?"

"There is no way we could beat a fifth year." Peter joined the conversation once again looking terrified.

Sirius sighed and shook his head. "We don't have to beat them you dolts, we just have to get the first hit in." he said with a strange desire to bash his head against the wall. "And doing a prefect first would be perfect; everyone knows prefects are in the top of the class. They will think that if a prefect couldn't even protect themselves against the 'attacker' than none of them can, thus causing more fear." They looked at each other wondering why they hadn't thought of that.

"How do you think of this stuff?" James asked.

"Years of experience, James." He stopped for a moment. "How are we going to find any of the prefects, they could be anywhere in the school." They thought about this for a moment.

"Oh, Amos Diggory is on the first floor near the entrance." Remus remembered a few of his friends asking Amos where he would be on parole tonight. Sirius looked confused for a moment.

"I thought the Ravenclaws had it tonight?"

"One of the Ravenclaw's prefects broke their arm in Quidditch practice so the Hufflepuffs are switching with them." Remus said and they headed towards the entrance of the castle.

"Oh." Sirius remembered someone mentioning that earlier. "When did Quidditch practice begin?"

"That was their first practice. The first game is Saturday." Remus answered and suddenly realized that he was having a normal conversation, without even trying to whisper, while they were out after (or before really) curfew. He sighed; he was getting way too used to this.

"Oh sweet! I can't wait." James and Sirius said as quietly as they could muster.

They were nearing the entrance now. They peeked out from behind a wall. Diggory was there, he was reading a book. He obviously didn't expect anyone to show up.

"Way to easy" Sirius said smirking at the Hufflepuff. "Who wants the honors?" He looked around.

"I'll do it." James said pulling out his wand. "I met him in Diagon Ally, when we went school shopping. He laughed at me because I couldn't tell the difference between frog eyes and newt eyes." Sirius nodded, completely understanding the need for revenge.

Amos Diggory didn't know what hit him. One second he was reading the next, he was petrified. James and Sirius cheered and gave each other a high five. They walked over to him. To none of their surprise Remus picked up the book he was reading and looked at it. He chuckled.

"He was studying for his O." Sirius shook his head. Only Remus would care about what Diggory was doing when they attacked him.

"Leviosa" Sirius levitated Diggory and began walking towards the Great Hall. The decided they wanted the biggest audience possible for their first show. The rest of the Marauders followed. Remus was still caring Diggory's book.

"I'm still worried that the teachers will get to the Great Hall first and hide the scene from everyone else." James said quickly catching up to Sirius.

"Ya, but I have an idea that may work. What if we put him just outside of the Great Hall? The teachers all use the back entrance, while the students use the main doors. If we do that then the teachers won't see him until a student tells them about it." Sirius looked at them as though he was asking them if it was all right. They agreed, Remus thought about how good Sirius was at this. He could easily get a career as a muggle detective with the way his mind worked.

"Great idea, Peter did you bring the stuff." They were nearing the Great Hall now. Peter nodded; thankfully, James' mom had gotten him a bag that could fit almost anything inside it for his eleventh birthday. So they put the jug of dragon blood in that. It made it much easier to carry as the bag always weighed the same, no matter what was in it.

They placed Diggory in a spot that was easily seen from each hallway leading to the Great Hall, but could not be seen from the great hall itself. Sirius got a brush that they had also bought and began levitated it so that it wasn't too low to the ground. He didn't want it to look like a first year did it, and he wasn't tall enough to reach all that high.

"What are you going to write?" James asked rather exited.

"You'll see?" He said with a smirk. He took the blood-covered brush and began to write in sharp letters. Remus was glad that Sirius had the thought to change his handwriting. James was just ecstatic that Sirius had used so much that the blood started to drip, though the letters stayed readable. Sirius laughed as he wrote…

**Lets play a game!!!**

"Should I put this as from the Marauders, or are we going to take credit directly." He turned to them

"I think we should use the Marauders, we don't want to take chances with this one." Remus noticed all their eyes flickering to him as James said this. He sighed, Sirius nodded, and continued.

**Marauders: 1 Hogwarts: 0**

Sirius put the brush down and smiled at his handy work. He looked more excited than a five-year old on Christmas morning.

"Let's get back to the dorm for an hour or two; we don't want to be the first ones seen here." James suggested. They nodded and started to head back; Remus looked back and stopped for a second.

"What?" Sirius asked worried.

"You forgot the apostrophe in Let's." Sirius looked at him for a while and started busting out laughing. "What's so funny?"

"There is a note written in blood, and a prefect petrified under it, and you're worried about my apostrophes." James and Peter laughed as well. "Come on, Mr. Perfectionist." Sirius said half-dragging Remus.

"Aren't you going to fix it?" Remus knew it was dumb but that was probably going to drive him crazy.

"Do you think a mass murderer cares whether his apostrophes are correct?" Sirius asked.

"Probably not." Remus answered.

"Exactly" Sirius said as they walked up to the Gryffindor tower. Remus sighed, and decided to attempt to ignore it. Sirius was right of course.

They went straight to their dorm. It wasn't really early but they knew it would still be a while before anyone was really up. None of them would have been able to go back to sleep and none of them tried. Sirius messed with the map, Remus read Diggory's book (he forgot he had it and accidently brought it back to their dorm), Peter and James played wizard's chess. It was one of the few games Peter could actually win against James. James really stunk at it. He enjoyed watching the pieces rip each other apart too much, and sacrificed way too many of his players, by the end of the game the pieces were considering mutiny. After an hour and a half they couldn't take it any longer and went down to breakfast, walking slowly hoping there would be a crowd before they could get there. They were in luck; there were a ton of people who were there.

They started to worry when many people stared at them as they neared the large group of students.

"What?" Sirius asked, easily faking disinterest. More people stared at them, and the crowd split to show them the body of Diggory and the note exactly the way they left it. They pretended to freeze at the sight of it. For the life of him, Sirius could not figure out why they were looking straight at them. Remus did though. He started freaking out. He was just as good at acting as he was at lying, though still not as good as Sirius with the former

"I told you!" He yelled, they were confused, but Peter was the only one who showed it. Thankfully, everyone ignored him. They were staring at Remus. "I told you they would get mad if we told anyone, but NOOOO. You were so sure they were bluffing." Remus yelled and ran to the Great Hall to get a teacher. It took a while but they finally remembered that they had told Professor Dumbledore that The Marauders threatened them.

"I thought…" Sirius didn't finish "I was so sure that…" He seemed to be unable to form full sentences. James and Peter just stayed silent, knowing their acting skills weren't near as good as Sirius' and Remus'.

Remus came back with Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore. McGonagall ran over to Diggory and checked to see if he was alive.

"Petrified," She said and attempted the counter curse; James had to try his hardest to keep from smiling when she found that it didn't work. Dumbledore addressed the students.

"Everyone into the Great Hall, The prefects and the Head boy, and Girl will be in charge. I want everyone to remain calm; we will tell you what to do during breakfast." Half the students ran straight to the Great Hall. No one seemed to be able to remain calm. When everyone was in the Great Hall, the Prefects managed to get some people seated at their house tables while the Head boy and Girl attempted to calm people down. Students began asking questions. The Marauders had never had so many people try to ask them questions. All of which required lies, Remus and Sirius answered most of them, Peter answered none. He looked terrified. Which was actually true, he was scared of being caught as usual. So his acting skill, or lack thereof, didn't make anyone suspicious.

"Do you think they will go for you next?" Was the last question they heard before Dumbledore and McGonagall came into the room with the other head of houses. The students attempted to ask them questions as well. None of them spoke until they were in front of the room.

"I want everyone's attention please." Dumbledore easily got his wish, as he spoke everyone was quiet as death. "I want you to remain calm, the castle will be searched. If we find anything abnormal, it will be removed. I assure you, you are all safe." As he said this, a many people calmed down. Dumbledore was very well trusted. "Amos Diggory will be fine, it may take a while, but we will figure out how to get him back to normal." Sirius was excited when he heard this, everyone else thought it was because he was worried about Diggory's safety, but the truth was that statement meant that they wouldn't be able to wake him back up. He would be out all day. He gave James a smile; James knew exactly why Sirius was happy. Dumbledore continued.

"Did anyone see anything suspicious lately?" He asked the student body, which in turn stared at the Marauders. Sirius sighed.

"Look, all we know is that we saw them wondering around the halls the night they changed the Slytherin common room colors. We over heard what they were going to do and they caught us eavesdropping. They then told us that if we told anyone that they would hurt us, and only us, if we told anyone. They then proceeded to do some strange battle cry calling out their name and disappeared." James elbowed him with a confused look on his face when he said this last part; he mouthed the word later to him. Nobody seemed to notice this little conversation. Remus bashed his head into his hand.

"I told you this was a bad idea," he said glaring at Sirius. "Why does no one listen to me?" He looked like he was going to have an emotional breakdown.

"I'm sorry, I underestimated them." Sirius attempted to defend himself from the fake statement.

"I want to see you four in my office, the rest of you are to finish your breakfast and then the head of each house will escort you to the common rooms you will stay there until we search the castle." Dumbledore said. Many seemed to calm down, seeing their headmaster so calm made it easy to stop worrying. Remus stiffened.

"Don't worry; he just wants to ask more questions. He doesn't think it was us." Sirius said, he could tell by the look Dumbledore gave them when he asked them to come with him.

"That's not what I'm worried about." Remus didn't lighten up; the rest of the Marauders looked at him in confusion. "We left the err…stuff on my bed" He reminded them. They instantly understood what the stuff was. If anyone found the jug of dragon blood that was now lying on Remus' bed, everyone would know it was him. Of course, they wouldn't let the blame fall on just Remus; they would all take the blame for it. Still, they weren't fond of the idea of getting expelled after only two months.

"What are we going to do? You don't think they are going to search our rooms do you!" James said starting to sweat really bad. If he got expelled his mom would kill him.

"Of course they are going to search our rooms!" Remus looked like he was going to start crying.

"Shhhh," Sirius said, "I'm going to go get it. Tell Dumbledore I went to the bathroom."

"No!" Remus held him back. "Dumbledore knows you wouldn't miss getting involved in something like this, I'll go, I'm a lot faster, and I think there is less chance of him getting someone to find me." He said and didn't give them a chance to respond before ducking under the table and crawling the length of it towards the doors. He was so small no one noticed him down there. They also didn't notice him run out the doors.

"Why wouldn't Dumbledore send anyone to find him?" James asked Sirius shrugged and continued eating. He was one of the only ones who were actually eating. Peter was looking at him as if he was invincible. They may be facing expulsion and he was eating as if nothing was happening. Peter felt like he was going to puke out what he ate yesterday let alone trying to eat now. James noticed this too. "Does anything faze you at all?"

"What?" Sirius said in between bites.

"How can you eat? Aren't you worried at all?" Sirius stared at the food on his plate. He was worried, very worried in fact. He was worried about being expelled. He was worried that he would be seeing his mother faster than he thought. He was worried also worried though that this may be his last meal in a long time. His mother had a thing about giving punishments by refusing the 'bad kid' food. He had gone more than once without anything to eat for a long time. However, he certainly wasn't going to tell them that.

"Sure, but we still have to pretend that we aren't to blame for this." He said quietly so no one would over hear them. "So I am attempting to eat something." James stared at his own plate now as if trying to force it to appear as though he was eating it. He tried to take a bite, strangely enough the food actually made him feel a bit better. Maybe it was just because it was distracting him from the worry. Peter tried as well it didn't help him though, and he found he couldn't eat more than a few bites. Nothing could distract Peter from the worry. Remus still wasn't back by the time everyone was escorted to their dormitories, which was a very bad thing. The teachers taking the students to their dorms meant that they had already searched them. They really didn't like how long it was taking him.

It wasn't long before the only ones in the room where the three of them and Dumbledore. They walked up to him.

"Remus had to go to the bathroom." James said not waiting for Dumbledore to ask. Dumbledore gave him a curious look.

"And did anyone think to go with him?" He asked, James moaned. Thankfully, Sirius had already distracted Dumbledore.

"Of course, he went with a sixth year that also had to go. What kind of friends would we be if we let him go alone with these freaks after us?"

"This doesn't necessarily mean that their after you, Sirius"

"Who else could they be after? They warned us and we ignored them, it's our fault Diggory was hurt." Sirius looked down at his feet; he was having a little trouble lying to him. Dumbledore was one of the kindest people he knew.

"Trust me Sirius, it wasn't your fault." Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder. This comforted all three of them. His voice was so sincere that there was no way he didn't trust them. It also make Sirius feel bad for lying to him, but there was no way they could get caught now, not when they were the only ones that knew that no one was in any real danger. They walked over to Dumbledore's office, and to their surprise found Remus waiting for them. He smiled when he saw them and ran over to them. This smile instantly killed all of their worries. Remus had successfully hidden the stuff. Sirius noticed he had his wand out as though ready for an attack. Sirius chuckled quietly; Remus was very good at this, almost as good as him.

Dumbledore said the password and a spiral staircase opened which they assumed led to his office. Sirius made a mental note to remember this password.

They followed Dumbledore up the staircase and walked into the office feeling very confident in their selves.

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A/N I'm really rather proud of this chapter, and the next was actually pretty easy to write. Also This is the only prank that I thought up by my self. I can't wait for you to read the next ones.

I wonder how many people will actually listen to what I put at the begining of the chapter and use the cool font. I'm not kidding it looks so much cooler that way.

Thanks to all reviewers. They really make me happy, I feel quite popular. ^_^


	16. Dumbledore's Office

A/N) This is another chapter that would be better with different fonts. Same font and size.

Chapter 16

Dumbledore's Office

Sirius was surprised by how open and friendly the headmaster's office felt. There was a lot of stuff in it, but it still didn't seem cluttered. It made him think of the homes he had read about in stories when he read to his little brother. He had been sure that there wasn't really a way to make a place feel warm without turning up the heat like the stories had said it did. As soon as he walked into this room, he was sure that they hadn't been lying. His house was dark and dusty in comparison.

Dumbledore sat at his desk and watched them for a moment. "I need you to tell me everything you know about the Marauders."

"We did." James said. He wanted to answer the easier questions so that it didn't look bad that Remus and Sirius were doing all the talking.

"No you told me what they did. I need you to tell me other things. Such as what they looked like, how many there were, where you met them, things like that." James let Sirius and Remus answer this. Remus was the first one to speak.

"We met them in the hall. No where special, I think it was on the first floor though." Remus was trying to hide the fact that he was looking at them as though he was asking permission to say this. No one noticed. Not even the other Marauders, so he stopped and figured they would tell him later if he did something wrong.

"I think there were four of them." Sirius looked like he was trying to remember that far back. "Ya, defiantly four of them. They looked rather human. They didn't float or anything, but they still seemed like ghosts. They were like whiteish, and you could kind of see though them, though I may be wrong about that. That's about it. Unless you guys can think of anything." Peter shook his head. James and Remus said no.

Dumbledore nodded. "Alright, I will escort you to your common room." He said and stood. They followed him out the door and down the halls. When they got to the portrait of the Fat Lady, they said the password and waved to Dumbledore. When they turned around, they were surprised to see just about every Gryffindor in the common room staring at them. They attempted to get in their dorm but were forced to stay by the mass of Gryffindors that were asking them questions and wanting to hear about what they saw. After half an hour of madness, Sirius got sick of it.

"ALRIGHT THAT'S IT!" He yelled so loud that he reminded them of his mother. "EVERYONE LEAVES US ALONE OR I START BLASTING CURSES AT PEOPLE!" He pointed his wand around in a threatening manner. The fact that he was a Black was not lost in the crowd, even if he was only a first year. The crowd broke up and they were able to get to their dormitory. James gave him an impressed look. Not every first year could control the entire Gryffindor house just by threatening them like that. Remus moaned and dropped on his bed.

"Where did you hide it?" Sirius asked, Remus smirked, obviously very proud of himself. He stood and walked over to Peter's bed. To their surprise, he lifted up a loose brick in the floor. They looked in and saw a secret space just under the floor. James' bag was in there. James grabbed his bag, and looked at the now empty space. It was rather large, not huge when Sirius put his hand down in it to test the strength of the bottom of it, the floor only went up to his elbow, but as far as secret spaces go it was rather large.

"Woah, how did you find it?" James asked after a while.

"When I went to wake Peter up, I noticed that this brick sounded different than the others. It wasn't much difference, not enough that most people could find it. But still different." Actually, it was so similar that it would be rare for anyone to find it. He only could because of his sensitive hearing, one of the only advantages of being a werewolf.

"Sweet, this is awesome, now we can hide anything we want from them." Sirius said excited again, this let in completely new possibilities as pranking goes.

"Anything that fits anyway." James said looking almost as excited. Remus put the brick back in place.

"What are we going to do now?" He asked and sat on Peter's bed. "From what you put on the wall they are going to be expecting another attack, so they are going to heighten security." They all looked to Sirius, who was obviously the one who would figure out what to do.

"We have to do it again. They need to be really scared; I'm not as worried about getting past all the prefects and stuff as finding another 'victim.' Everyone is going to be watched and not many people will risk going out."

"What if we just ask one of them to come with one of us to the library or something?" James suggested.

"No, it would be way too obvious that it's us when they wake up. We would have to mess with their memory first, and I don't know how to do that yet." Sirius was in his thinking mode. It always entertained Remus when he went into his thinking mode. He was so different during it that it made Remus think that maybe it was the only time he ever really thought about something. James was merely surprised that it didn't hurt. When he voiced this aloud, he always received a smack from Sirius.

"What if we just go after another prefect?" Peter suggested.

"No, I'm sure they have been told to partner up. We don't want to have to hit them both." Sirius muttered.

"Why don't we hit them both? I mean there are four of us." James asked.

"What are we going to do with the other one? We can't put two of them together, and then they will just pair them up in threes or something."

"Oh man, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but why don't we just stash the other one in a broom closet for later or something. Oh, man that didn't sound right. Guys I really feel like a mass murderer or something." Sirius, James, and Peter laughed. They knew Remus was serious, but they couldn't help but think that was funny.

To Remus' dismay, Sirius said "Great idea Remus."

They laughed again as they started to descend to the common room. James had his very manly bag (I swear it isn't a purse.) To their great surprise, they saw that a few of the students were leaving the common room in groups of two or three. They asked Frank Longbottem and found out that they were allowed to leave as long they didn't go alone. Sirius cheered when they got into the hall. This made things much easier. There would be more targets, but not so many that it would be hard to not be caught. They headed towards the Herbology classroom. Sirius complained the whole way about having classes on a holiday. Their class that day was pretty easy; no one seemed really into it, even the teacher. She seemed more interested watching to make sure no one broke into her class and tried to kill anyone than actually teaching them. She was defiantly the paranoid type. When they left, they had already picked their victim. She was a third year Gryffindor, they absolutely could not figure out why a third year was in class with them. It took them a while to convince James that they had to pick on the Gryffindors as well. She spent the entire class insulting the Marauders. She was trying to prove that she wasn't scared of them. She also stated that she absolutely refused to have an escort everywhere, which meant that she would be going out alone, an easy target.

They followed her out of Herbology and found she wasn't lying. She really wasn't going to use the buddy system. Sirius smirked and gave James a high five. She was heading for the library. They couldn't believe their luck, not far away was the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. That was the next class the first years had. So it wouldn't be too surprising if they were there. James used the spell again, Remus didn't want to, and Peter was too afraid. He winced when he petrified the Gryffindor girl. It really went against the grain to jinks one of his own house. They quickly set her up the same way, except this time Sirius wrote…

**Having fun yet!!!!!**

**Marauders:2 Hogwarts:0**

They snuck off snickering. Sirius was rather proud of them, the armatures were rather good at this, though he was doing most of the work. Perhaps by the end of the year he won't have to. When they came back for D.A.D.A class, they were happy that about the same thing happened. Once again, someone notices them and the crowd kinda split.

Remus made a depressed noise when they saw their handiwork. However, in his head he was rather proud of it. "Not again." Remus did an excellent job of looking like he was going to cry.

"What is going on out…" The D.A.D.A teacher's voice trailed off when he saw the Girl in the same state Diggory was this morning. "Get inside the classroom! Now! Hurry!" Everyone quickly went inside the classroom. The teacher went to his fireplace and summoned Dumbledore, who he told everything. Dumbledore then summoned a few of the teachers. They went out of the classroom. The door was left open so they could hear the conversation.

"What do you think is doing this Albus?" They heard Professor McGonagall say.

"I haven't the slightest clue, but it must be a very strong magic. Even Yuma's Mandrakes couldn't wake them." Sirius almost laughed, and told them in his mind that maybe it was just too weak that they would never figure out what it was. Remus seemed rather confused. Dumbledore was now explaining what each teacher was expected to do. They heard their teacher ask.

"What do you want me to do with the first years, Dumbledore."

"Take them back to their Common Rooms, I don't want anyone roaming the halls. We aren't going to let these Marauders play their little game." Their teacher, who Sirius just remembered was called Professor Gilbert, came in the room and told them all to follow him. When they left the room the girl and the writing were both gone. They were taken straight to their common room, Professor McGonagall was there waiting for them.

"I want everyone to pay close attention." She stood in front of the room. "I need to inform everyone that is not already aware that another student has been attacked by these so called Marauders." There was a large collective gasp, they had forgotten that it was only the first years that would have seen the attack.

"Now you all know that if you have any information you are too see any teacher as soon as possible. I want to warn you of the danger that they present. The most resent victim was heard saying that she didn't see the point of having someone else with her when she left her class. She went out alone, and now she is in the hospital wing and we cannot figure out how to help her. I cannot stress enough how important it is for you to not go out alone. We are not aware of what the Marauders are capable of, but we know they are powerful. We can only help you stay safe if you agree to listen to what we are telling you." The Marauders were trying so hard not to laugh. They could not believe how good they were. McGonagall had said that they were powerful when all they did was use a simple spell that you normally didn't learn in school. They were first years for Pete's sake, and they were even outwitting the teachers. Even Remus was holding back laughter, normally he would feel sorry for the teachers, but the spell they used was just so easy that he couldn't help but want to laugh at them. Professor McGonagall continued to attempt to warn them. If only she knew how close, a couple of first years were to laughing at her.

* * *

A/N) HI ^_^

That's all i have to say.


	17. Last Victim

Chapter 17

Last Victim

The Marauders were in their dorm laughing their heads off. If anyone saw them, they would think they had been hit with way to many cheering charms.

"I can't believe they are so worried about this!" Sirius said in between laughter.

"Of course they are worried about it, they don't realize how to fix it!" Remus couldn't hold it in anymore. "It took us five minutes to learn the spell and they can't figure out how to reverse it!" Remus was having a hard time breathing enough to speak. "The fully accomplished wizards can't figure out how to undo a spell that four eleven year old wizards who have been in school for two months put on a couple of students." With that Remus could no longer speak.

As soon as McGonagall's speech was over they had ran up to their dorm as fast as possible. Most people just assumed that they were scared. They got to their room and all worry about being caught and expelled was quickly forgotten. They hadn't stopped laughing since, James was starting to worry that they would die from lack of oxygen.

"Oh… that was good, defiantly worth all the worry." James said wiping a few tears from his eyes. "Did you see the look on Snape's face when we were looking at that chick? He looked like he was going to pee his pants. Oh that was to die for." The memory of Snape's face caused him to start laughing all over again.

"Aw, I missed that. Darn it." Peter would have looked disappointed, if he could stop laughing long enough to make the face.

"I saw his girlfriend's face, she was crying. She was clutching onto him so hard it looked like she was going to rip his arm off." Sirius said, laughing at Evans.

"She's not his girlfriend." James said, surprisingly quiet serious. "And I have no idea why the very notion of them going out disgusts me so much."

"I know why" Sirius said and was going to continue but James interrupted him.

"If you say it's because I'm in love with either one of them I'm going to kill you." Remus and Peter watched their conversation in amusement.

"I wasn't going to say that I swear." Sirius said laughing, his lungs were really starting to hurt. "It's because Snape isn't cool enough to have a girlfriend. Even one as annoying as Evens." James thought about that for a moment.

"Ya, that is defiantly why." They laughed again, still very giddy from McGonagall's speech. Remus happened to look at the time.

"Shoot!!!!" They all turned to Remus looking at him like he was going to explode. "We have three minutes to get to History of Magic." All laugher stopped immediately and they ran out of the common room.

"You would think that with students randomly being attacked they would call off all the classes." Sirius said as they ran as fast as they could. Remus had to remind himself not to go too fast in fear of getting Sirius back on the subject of his inhuman speed. They made it to history of magic. Not on time of course, but they made it. Once again, Mr. Binns didn't even notice them arrive.

They sat down in the back of the classroom. "Is this teacher deaf?" Sirius whispered to James, he laughed.

"Must be." James sighed and began doodling. He tried to pay attention, he really did. It just wasn't possible to actually listen to the man drone on. He would just read the chapter out of the book later. Probably learn more that way.

Remus managed to take notes. That was how he cured his boredom actually. He wasn't listening to Mr. Binns, he was taking notes out of the book itself. The chapter they were on was actually pretty interesting. The man probably could make a vampire attack seem boring.

When they got out of class, they decided to stage another attack just for no reason but to cure their boredom. They were going to use the plan they thought of earlier. Absolutely no one was out of their common room alone. No one they could find anyway. They found two Ravenclaws that would work just fine. They didn't seem to know where they were going one of them even had their nose in a Muggle Studies book. The Marauders followed them until they were in an empty hallway. They seemed to be heading for potions class a little early. This time Remus did the spell with James, though he kinda felt bad about it. They levitated both of them to the entrance to Mr. Slughorn's classroom. Thankfully, James had started carrying his bag with them everywhere so they didn't have to worry about it. This time Sirius wrote…

**Its no fun if you don****'****t even try!!!**

**Marauders:3 Hogwarts:0**

"Put an apostrophe, you're driving me crazy." Sirius sighed and put the apostrophe there. They then levitated the other Ravenclaw to a broom closet near McGonagall's room. There weren't many people out most people were too scared.

"We need to stay away this time." Remus said as they walked towards the common room. "We don't have potions today and we have no reason to be anywhere near the classroom. It would be way too suspicious."

"You have a point; darn I wanted to see the reaction." James huffed.

It wasn't until they had been at the common room for an hour did they hear about the next attack. Apparently, the Ravenclaw girl was a seventh year. They felt rather proud of themselves. They just petrified a seventh year Ravenclaw, probably two. Lilly Evans was freaking out. They watched he rant to her friend about how much safer she thought Hogwarts would be for a full twenty minutes. They then went to their dorm.

"When are we going to tell them it was all a joke?" Remus asked. They needed to get the last part of their plan down. He took out the piece of paper that had their plans on it. "I swear I'm up to no good." He said the passphrase and pointed his wand at the paper. The words he wrote on it began to appear.

"The Halloween feast is the perfect time. The whole school will be there." Sirius said looking at the paper.

"But how are we going to tell them. We can't put a person in the Great Hall, before the feast. We will get caught, they spend the time decorating." James began to pace again, as Remus wrote this down.

"What if we just do the words? Sirius can levitate the brush and write the words on the wall." Surprisingly Peter came up with this idea. It may have been the first thing he had actually done for this prank.

"That's a good idea Peter; it wouldn't be hard to do. Especially if they suspect us as much as Dumbledore made it seem, which is not at all, Remus." Sirius added that at the end remembering that Remus wasn't there when Dumbledore told them it wasn't their fault.

"We should find a spell that allows the pain to disappear that way you can write without worrying about running out of wall space. I have a feeling they are going to ask questions. Are you going to answer them?" Remus said still writing.

"Ah sure, why not?" Sirius said and they headed for the library again. Thankfully, they quickly found exactly what they were looking for. It was another easy spell. They practiced it when they displayed the other Ravenclaw girl an hour later. It was good thing the learned it because Sirius almost spelled Marauders wrong this time.

**We are going to win!!!**

**Marauders:4 Hogwarts:0**

They decided that this was going to be their last one and looked rather sad at it. They had put this one in front of another classroom. In fact, the class had been about ready to end when they finished. They almost didn't get away in time. They did of course, and headed towards the Great Hall for the feast.

Watching their faces when they finally figured out what was going on was going to be hilarious.

* * *

A/N) Hehe, perfectionest Remus strikes again. Next chapter will be the revealing.


	18. Revealing the Prank

Chapter 18

Revealing the Prank

When they walked into the Great Hall, they were nothing short of speechless. It looked amazing. It almost drove all thoughts of their prank away, almost. They couldn't wait to litter the walls with the dragon blood.

They were one of the first ones there, though not the first. All the teachers were already sitting at the table; McGonagall and Dumbledore were talking with worried looks on their faces. They laughed when they realized the chances were that they were talking about the Marauders.

After about fifteen minutes, all of the students were there and Dumbledore began to speak.

"Now I know that we have all had a rough day, but I hope we can put that aside long enough to enjoy this wonderful feast. I'm sure tomorrow will bring enough worries that can wait until tomorrow. For now, let us just enjoy ourselves, but be warned. I have sent for a little bit of help in catching whatever these Marauders are. A few Aurors from the Ministry of Magic are going to be searching the building and helping us find the culprit behind these attacks." The Marauders stiffened. James whispered in Sirius' ear.

"Now!" he said urgently hoping that revealing the prank would keep the Ministry of Magic away. Sirius nodded and hid his wand.

**Now don****'****t go through so much trouble on the account of us!!**

The entire school gasped as they read the writing that was being written on the wall. The Marauders were here. All of the teachers stood and pulled out their wands.

**Well isn****'****t that a nice welcome. I assume you didn****'****t**** have much fun in our little game then. **

Dumbledore's face became rather hard and cold. "And I assume you are these Marauders I've heard so much about."

**Nice to meet you too Albus.**

Sirius chuckled it was actually rather cool that he got to call the headmaster by his first name. Dumbledore wasn't amused though. "What did you do to the students?"

**Business before pleasure I see. Very good, we like that about you. **

Dumbledore looked angry. "What did you do to them!"

**Tisk tisk tisk, didn****'****t your mother ever warn you about that temper of yours. **

**I suppose I have no choice but to tell you then don****'****t I. **

**You don****'****t need to worry about them we merely petrified them.**

Dumbledore sighed attempting to control his anger, getting mad would not help him when they were so obviously trying to get a reaction from him. "We know that already. Reverse the effects." He ordered.

**Very good. Not many people can control their anger like that. We****'****re impressed.**

**If you already knew what we did then why did you ask? Hmm?**

**Like I said earlier you don****'****t need to worry about your students, we just wanted to have a little fun.**

McGonagall was enraged. "Fun! You call this fun, attacking students, petrifying them possibly forever. Is this your idea of fun?"

**Ohh yes, this is quite fun. Your reaction was the best of them all **___**Minerva.**_

Sirius laughed again. He really liked calling the teachers by their first name. James and Peter were looking around the room at people's faces. They didn't want to miss a thing. Remus was watching Professor McGonagall. Her face was turning red very quickly.

**Oh and it helps that we actually know what is going on, unlike you.**

Dumbledore's look became a little softer; it was looking like he finally understood. "And what pray tell is going on?"

**We thought you would never ask.**

There was a short pause.

**You see, what would Halloween be without a little scare. Hmm**?

The Great Hall quieted. James and Remus were giving Sirius ideas of what to write.

**Your students will all wake up exactly at midnight. Completely unharmed. Oh and don****'****t bother asking them if they saw us, they won****'****t remember a thing.**

There was a huge sigh of relief when Sirius finished writing. McGonagall finally calmed down. "You mean they aren't in any danger at all?"

**None what so ever! See what fun!! We must thank you, we haven****'****t**** had this much fun in centauries. **

Dumbledore laughed. There was obvious relief in this laugh. "I suppose then congratulations are in order. You have won the game." Dumbledore bowed. There was silence for a while, everyone seemed to expect more writing on the wall, but there was none. Sirius decided it would be a good time for them to stop. Suddenly there was a loud cheer from everyone. They were all so relieved that they wouldn't be next and that their friends would return to normal. The Marauders cheered with everyone else. They were somewhat relieved that it was over. They didn't have to worry about being caught anymore. The food was the best they had ever had.

The first thing they did when they back to their dorm was dump the last bit of dragon blood out the window. There wasn't enough left that anyone would notice anything but a falling jug. They had done it. They had probably made Hogwarts history in just one day, but now, they were just eleven-year-old kids, who had probably only gotten ten hours of sleep all weekend. They were asleep before the even realized they went to bed.

* * *

A/N) This chapter was really short. I hope that didn't hurt the quality of it too much. I'm really proud of the past four chapters, they were surpisingly easy to write. Thank God that writers block steared clear of me.


	19. Quidditch

Chapter 19

Quidditch

The Marauders were the only thing anyone talked about for the next three days. The students that had been attacked had woken up at midnight just as the Marauders had said. Because of this everyone now completely trusted them. There was no worry when the Marauders were mentioned, a lot of people found the need to laugh whenever someone mentioned them. To everyone's surprise Professor McGonagall was one of them. Frank Longbottem asked about the students that that had been attacked and they were shocked when she started giggling.

Professor McGonagall surprised them a lot. She had always seemed to be strict and mean. The Marauders were starting to see a different side of her though. She was kind, they had seen that when she used Sirius's detention to tutor him. She was smart, that was the most obvious of her traits. She had an excellent sense of humor. They had first seen signs of this when they had changed the Slytherin common room red and gold. When the Slytherin head of house told her about the change in decorations, she had laughed herself silly. Now she was laughing about their Halloween prank.

Their newest surprise though was that she was very competitive. She was one hundred present determined that the Gryffindor Quidditch team was the best team. She also was very big on trying to prove it to everyone else also. She was often found arguing with one of the other teachers on which team was the best. They had even caught her rambling about it once during class. Though when Sirius called her out on it she completely denied that she had got off on a rabbit trail and was just using the team as an example. Sirius got a detention for arguing with her, which caused James to feel the need to accompany his mate in the detention and began arguing about it as well. Both of their detentions were going to be served the day before the game. Sirius told everyone it was because at least one of them would have to serve it with her and she didn't want to miss the game.

The very first game was Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Everyone was exited, and Remus found out exactly how much Sirius and James were obsessed with the sport. If he hadn't known it was impossible he would have thought that they had completely forgotten about their Halloween prank. Quidditch was all they talked about.

"Do you know who the Ravenclaw seeker is?" Sirius asked James. They were in the dorm lounging around, they had two hours before the game began.

"I'm pretty sure it is Ted Tonks." James replied. He was losing in a game of chess against Remus, and he was losing badly.

"The seventh year?" James nodded and sighed when Remus' pawn destroyed his Queen. "Do you know if he is any good?"

"I heard he stinks." Sirius moaned.

"Shoot, they're going to lose aren't they." Sirius was obviously rooting for Ravenclaw.

"It is just one player, Sirius, him being bad doesn't automatically mean they lose." Remus said taking one of James' knights. They looked at him like he was mental.

"Are you kidding, have you ever seen a game of Quidditch?" Sirius' eyes looked like they were going to pop out. Remus realized he was wrong pretty quickly, he blushed.

"Um, no. It's only logical though, I mean aren't all the players important?" Remus said and watched as Sirius almost literally fainted out on his bed. James' eyes were wide and was looking like he had never met Remus before this moment. Even Peter was looking at him as though this was the strangest thing he had ever heard in his life.

"Never seen…" James was at a loss for words. "How is…" Not having ever seen a game of Quidditch was like a crime in his book.

"I told you! My mum is a muggle, and my dad hid the fact that he was a wizard until Dumbledore showed up on my doorstep." Remus was still red, he had read about Quidditch not long after their first flying lesson, he had wanted to know what James and Sirius were talking about. It sounded like a fun game and he knew almost everything about it, he just hadn't actually seen it play.

"I claim him, he is mine!" Sirius said in a way that made Remus worry

"What are you talking about?" Remus didn't understand what he had done wrong.

"He is claiming the right to be the one to kill your dad for not taking you to a Quidditch game. It would be acceptable if you were a muggleborn or something, but this is unforgivable." James explained with a teasing look in his eye. Remus stiffened.

"Please tell me he's joking, please." Remus looked franticly at James and Sirius.

"Calm down, no one is going to hurt your dad, right Si." James looked at Sirius who had a pained look on his face.

"But…But… James…" Sirius looked like Remus' dad had shot him or something. James laughed, James being so calm reassured Remus that Sirius actually wouldn't attack anyone.

"I know Si, I know. It is a crime worthy of Azkaban if I've ever seen one, but Remmy likes his dad, we can't kill him." James walked over to Sirius and petted him. Sirius didn't seem to notice the dog reference. They made so many he didn't really even care. Sirius flopped back on the bed. James laughed and returned back to the chessboard.

"Remus is partially right, though." James said and moved his king. "Maybe we will get lucky and they will still win. Ya, it is highly unlikely but possible, I heard their chasers were really good."

"I doubt they're that good, aren't two of them third years." Sirius sighed when James nodded.

"Checkmate." Remus had moved his bishop and had clearly won the game. James opened his mouth but Remus interrupted him. "No, I'm not playing against you again." It was their third game, Remus was getting bored with winning so easily. James sighed, and laid on his bed.

"Maybe Slytherin will get fouled for cheating so much that they give Ravenclaw too many points." Sirius said and sat across from Remus. Remus began setting the board again, he didn't have to ask to know that Sirius wanted to play. He didn't mind playing against Sirius. Unlike James, Sirius actually tried and unlike Peter, he was good.

"It doesn't really matter who wins this game because Gryffindor will take the cup." Peter said proudly.

"You don't know that Peter." Peter deflated when Remus said this.

"Well it had better not be Slytherin." Sirius watched as one of his rooks threw one of Remus' pawns clear across the board.

"How early should we go down?" James asked laughing at Remus' poor pawn.

"Probably soon." Sirius sighed impatiently. "Will you move already." He complained.

"Stop being so impatient." Remus moved a knight. Sirius laughed and moved his queen.

"Checkmate." Sirius stood and put his pieces away. Remus sighed, he really should have seen that coming.

"Let's go now." James practically ran to the doo and stood their impatiently. "Come on"

"We're coming," Remus put his pieces away and followed them out the door. They climbed out of the common room and James and Sirius attempted to run down the stairs. James fell. Sirius watched as he rolled down two flights of stairs and into a wall.

When they got down to him James was still on the ground rubbing a sore spot on his head. Sirius kneeled down to look at him properly.

"Is anything broken?" He asked and helped James stand.

"I don't think so." James was rather surprised at Sirius' act of concern. He expected him to laugh.

"Good." Sirius said then burst out laughing. James rolled his eyes and stood there for a minute. When Sirius didn't stop James pushed him. He didn't bother to get up, and still couldn't stop laughing. James rolled his eyes at Remus who laughed and tried to help Sirius up. James walked out to the grounds limping a little, Peter quickly followed.

Sirius still didn't have his laughter under control when he and Remus caught up with James and Peter. James raised an eyebrow at him.

"It wasn't that funny." Sirius couldn't reply, he was laughing too hard. James looked at Remus with clear confusion in his eyes.

"I'm starting to think he has been hexed." Remus said as he half dragged Sirius up to the Gryffindor stands. They found some good seats and sat down. The few people who were there were starting to stare.

"Just ignore him he is a moron." James told them and they looked away, but not before making it clear that they thought the Marauders were crazy though.

Sirius managed to stop laughing not long before the game began. They were going to ask him about it, but they were afraid he would start again so they decided to wait until after the game. Every few seconds he would start quietly laughing to himself though.

Everyone cheered when the teams walked onto the field. Sirius moaned when he saw the Ravenclaw seeker. Ted Tonks wasn't really built for being a seeker, he was much too big. The game began quickly. The Slytherins started out with the quaffle. They could hear Susan Abbott a Hufflepuff third year commentating the game.

There may have been two young students as chasers but they were still quite good. The chaser that was a sixth year was excellent, and the younger ones didn't seem so bad with him around. Slytherin's first cheat was only five minutes into the game. One of their chasers had grabbed onto one of the Ravenclaw beaters bats. Ravenclaw got the first score because of this. The Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs cheered, and the Slytherins hissed.

It was a very close game after that though. The Ravenclaws would make it in, then the Slytherins would. Then the Slytherins would get caught cheating and the Ravenclaws would get a free throw. It went like this for a while. It was pretty clear that if the Slytherins had actually played fair they would have been way ahead. Remus was just as excited as everyone else. He cheered when the Ravenclaws got a goal, and booed when the Slytherins cheated. After a half hour he was yelling at the players when they did something that he wouldn't have done. Yelling at the beaters to aim somewhere else, or one of the chasers to go left instead of right. He had completely forgotten that there were people around him. No one cared though; they were doing the exact same thing.

An hour into the game and there was still no sign of the snitch. The Slytherins had a small lead. They watched as the Ravenclaw chaser faked a pass to one of his team mates. They were sure that it had worked until one of the Slytherin chasers smashed right into him obviously on purpose. The eldest chaser fell off his broom while the coach awarded Ravenclaw a penalty throw. It didn't matter though, without him the younger chasers seemed to fall apart. They seemed to have been dependent on him. Now they had no hope. One of the teachers walked the chaser to the medical wing saying that he would be fine. Remus could hear James yelling.

"OH COME ON, THAT WAS HORIBLE. HE NEEDS TO BE KICKED OUT OF THE GAME!" James yelled along with everyone else. Sirius growled, being glad once again that he had been sorted into Gryffindor. He didn't want any connection with someone who would do that.

The Ravenclaws were suffering badly. In ten minutes they were already down by a hundred points. Their chasers were now completely useless, and their keeper seemed to be half blind or something. Or at least that was what Sirius seemed to think.

"Oh come on… Of their entire house they couldn't find any decent players at all! Half their team sucks. Who is their captain, he needs to get hexed! What kind of person would recruit these people?" Sirius let out a long stream of complaints.

"I'll bet their friends of the captain, that's why they got in." James clearly agreed that the captain stunk. They were abusing the captain when Remus yelled.

"Look!" Everyone within hearing distance watched where he was pointing. Ted Tonks was racing towards what looked to be a golden ball. He had found the snitch. Unfortunately the Slytherin seeker was right behind him. Tonks could barely keep a lead on her. The Slytherin beaters quickly aimed at him, one of the Ravenclaw beaters managed to keep one of the bludgers away but couldn't do both. The other zoomed straight at him. A few people screamed but he did a spectacular dodge, and the bludger hit the Slytherin seeker instead. Tonks didn't watch her fall, he continued going after the snitch. He caught it, not quite with ease, but he caught it. The Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Gryffindors all cheered. James started jumping up and down and hugged Peter.

"I knew it! I knew he didn't stink as much as they said!" James said even though it had been obvious he had believed it. They ran down from the stands and saw the Ravenclaws carrying Tonks back to the castle. They were cheering loudly. They climbed to the Gryffindor tower replaying parts of the game to each other. When they got in the common room everyone was exited, the Gryffindor Quidditch team more so than everyone else. Ravenclaws victory made claiming the cup for Gryffindor much easier. It was much easier to get points against the Ravenclaws than the Slytherins. With such pathetic players in the Ravenclaw team they knew they could get a lot of points during that game.

They stayed up in the common room talking about the match for quite a while. When Sirius got into an argument with one of the girls about the Ravenclaw beaters' tactics James decided it would be a good time to go to bed. He dragged Sirius out of the common room. Remus and Peter followed. This surprised Remus, he knew Peter followed James everywhere, but since when had he started doing it to? He knew that James didn't care if he stayed in the common room, but it seemed like if James did something he felt the need to do it as well. He knew James only wanted to leave so Sirius would leave the girl alone, but it was like James had just unconsciously gave an order that the Marauders were to leave the common room. Remus felt like he had to follow the nonexistent order. It was a very strange feeling. He looked at Peter; Peter didn't even seem to notice that he was even following James. Peter followed him way too often. Remus worried that he would get that way as well, blindly playing follow the leader. He decided to break the habit before it began and told him that he wanted to stay in the common room. James shrugged; he didn't realize that Remus had any desire to follow him to the dorm.

Remus stayed down there for a half hour and realized he was bored. He sighed and went to the dorm. Despite James deciding it was bed time, Peter was the only one in bed.

"I thought you wanted to go to bed."

"We changed our minds." They were sitting on the floor playing chess; or rather they were fighting over whose chess pieces could destroy the other pieces in the most creative, or rather most violent, way. Sirius played differently when he was playing with James, knowing James didn't really care about whether he actually won or not.

Remus laughed and sat down on Sirius' bed watching the game. He winced every time a piece was taken. They had really started to get brutal. He liked to imagine that the pieces were actually alive, not just enchanted to move.

"Oh, I forgot to ask why you were going crazy on us before the game." Remus said remembering Sirius' laughing fit. Sirius gave him a confused look.

"Oh come on, it was after I fell down the stairs." James reminded him, and Sirius laughed.

"Oh, that. Sorry, it's just that I've never seen anyone do that before." James looked at him in disbelief.

"You have never seen anyone trip before." James sounded skeptical.

"Ya, I thought they only did that in books." James didn't give him the benefit of the doubt. Remus understood though.

"I suppose it sort of makes sense when you think about it. Gracefulness is often an inherited trait isn't it? Did you ever even meet anyone outside of your family?" Remus felt kind of sorry for him. He didn't seem to get out much.

"Not really, all purebloods are related, we marry each other too much. I was only aloud to talk to someone from a full pureblood family that weren't blood traitors, in other words I could only talk to a Black, Lestrange, or a Molfoy. Those are the only ones we have real contact with. There are a few others out there, but I don't know them very well.

"Well that really sucks. How could you find a girlfriend when the only people you know are related to you?" Remus rolled his eyes, trust James to be thinking about girls right now.

"I'm not sure exactly, we all sort of marry each other or something. My parents are cousins." Remus shuttered, that was nothing short of sick. He thought of his cousin and tried to imagine marring her. Not a pleasant picture really. James looked ready to puke.

"You're kidding." He said attempting to remove all pictures from his mind.

"Nope."

"That's sick, how can you stand knowing that. I think I would run away or something."

"After a while you start to get used to it. It doesn't really matter to me anymore, just sorta one of those random facts that you don't really think about unless it is brought up in conversation."

"Don't people that marry their family end up with kids with mental disorders." Remus was reasonably sure that Sirius didn't have any mental disorders, though there were times when he wondered. Usually when he woke up at four a.m. and saw Sirius brushing his hair or whatever.

"That is usually only with siblings, not cousins." Sirius said and moved one of his pawns to crush one of James'. James looked down at the board, he had forgotten he was still playing.

"Great, I just know I'm going to be having nightmares about that tonight. Thanks a lot Sirius." James said and yawned. Sirius gave him an apologetic smile.

"Woops." Remus laughed and went over to his bed.

"I'm tired, let's just call it a draw shall we." James asked and Sirius nodded. They turned out the lights and climbed into bed. Remus became very aware that the window was open. He didn't need to see it to know that the nearly full moon was shining just outside of it. It unnerved him; he knew there was no chance of sleeping while the window was open.

"Does anyone mind if I close the window?" He asked quietly in case they had already gone to sleep.

"Go ahead," and "Sure" were his answers. He climbed out of bed and walked over to the window. He shivered when he felt the glow of the moon on him. It seemed like it was just dying to transform him, to cause him pain. He closed the window and shut the blinds as fast as he could and ran back to bed hiding behind the covers. He knew it was silly, he knew that the moon was not alive, and it certainly didn't want to hurt him, but he couldn't help it. He had been afraid of the moon for as long as he could remember.

Even with the window closed he still didn't get much sleep, maybe an hour at the most. It wouldn't be long before the moon was full. He could feel himself getting sick, and he was sure Sirius had noticed. Maybe this time he should tell them he was sick instead of his mum. Only problem with that was that they might come see him in the medical wing. If they saw his scars there would be no way that they would believe he was sick. Hurt maybe but not sick. Maybe he would get by with no scars this time, but could he take that chance. He sighed, he still had a few days left, he could figure it out later.

A/N I am so sorry, I made a huge mistake. I mentioned in a previous chapter that James' birthday was soon. It isn't, it isn't anywhere near this day, and I completely forgot about it. I am going to repost the chapter that said it and take it out, but a lot of you already read it, so I need to tell you. Sorry

Also I finally got a hold of half-blood prince and Deathly hollows and finally managed to read it. I realized that my first chapter is completely wrong. I am not going to change it though. I want to make it close to the book, but Rowling's description of how they met in Snape's flashback, was a little too anticlimactic for me. I like mine better. No offence is intended to Rowling of course.


	20. Bribery

Chapter 20

Bribery

The week that followed didn't hold as much excitement for the Marauders as that week did. They worked on their map, and discovered an even greater dislike for ht Slytherins, who never seemed to be able to pass them without throwing some hex at them. Poor Peter seemed to be the main victim of these attacks. Luckily Sirius knew the counter cursed for most of them.

A full moon came and went. Remus' transformations in the Shreaking Shack weren't as bad as they were at his home. Still bad, but not as bad. Sirius also stopped bugging Remus about his illness when he gained some of his color back.

They were doing well in all their classes. James and Sirius were extraordinary students, and they hardly tried at all. Sirius was still having problems with transfig, but James was excellent at it. He quickly hired himself as Sirius' tutor in the class. James was good at everything; He never had trouble with any of it. Remus was also very bright. He had to try harder and he still wasn't that good in potions, but he always got good grades. Peter was getting by well enough as well. With three excellent students as his best friends he was pretty much guaranteed a good grade.

James and Sirius were a little worried about History of Magic. Even in the rare occurrence that they tried to pay attention they didn't learn anything. They didn't start worrying about it until Remus mentioned it to them.

"You don't even care if you pass do you." Remus sat on his bed reading as usual. They had no idea what had even brought the subject up. It wasn't like Remus to be random.

"Of course we do, but it is impossible to pay attention to that dumb teacher." James said, referring to Professor Binns.

"James is right, and I actually like history." Sirius complained his favorite subject was being mutilated by the man. "It would be different if the teacher actually cared about the subject, or you know noticed if someone barged into the room in the middle of class. I don't even think Professor Binns would notice if he died."

Remus sighed. "Somehow I doubt that Sirius." Sirius just shook his head.

"How do you do it? How can you possibly stay awake long enough to take notes?"

"I take them straight from them book." Remus answered. James got back in the conversation.

"You have notes! Can I see them?" James looked ready to beg.

"No take your own."

"Please!" James was officially begging.

"No."

"Would you do it if we bribed you?" Sirius asked. Remus thought about it.

"No." James huffed and flopped on his bed. Sirius refused to give up.

"Not for anything? No books you want desperately or anything like that?"

"Not really, I'm fine with the ones I have." Remus looked back to his book, realizing that he had just told Sirius that he could be bribed. He smirked to himself; maybe he could get something good out of this.

"Hmm, what about…" He bent down and started looking through his stuff; he was looking for anything Remus might want. Remus peeked out from behind the book. Sirius caught him looking.

"Your wanting something specific aren't you?" Remus chuckled and nodded.

"What?" Remus just shook his head, he still wasn't sure if it would be worth it. "Give me a hint." Remus thought about this for a second. He decided to go for it.

"It's brown." Sirius couldn't figure it out. So Remus helped him again. "Food, or candy really" Sirius smiled, knowing what Remus wanted now. He grabbed it and threw it lightly to Remus' bed. Remus caught it easily and smiled into his book. "The notes are in my book on the desk." He said. James looked at Sirius with wide eyes.

"What did you give him?" Sirius smirked.

"A chocolate bar." James' jaw dropped open.

"You're kidding." Sirius laughed and shook his head, pulling out Remus' notes.

"Who knew Remmy was a chocoholic."

"You're going to have to copy them later Sirius, we need to head for potions." Remus said and stood. They grabbed their potions books and headed for the dungeons.

It was actually a very good class for all of them. Remus got his potion right without help from Sirius or James, which was a first. James unfortunately decided to 'help' Snape a little though. He and Sirius began laughing when Snape's potion blew up in his face. Remus moaned and half hid when Snape glared at them. They couldn't figure out how he knew it was them.

"What did you do to his potion?" Remus asked quietly when class was over. He didn't wait until they got out of the room. James laughed.

"I added a few newts' eyes." Remus was about to scold him for this when Slughorn noticed they were still there.

"Ah boys, I've been meaning to talk to you." All four of them turned to him.

"About what Professor?" Remus was the first to speak. He was almost positive it was about James' trick on Snape.

"Mr. Remus Lupin. Am I correct?" Remus nodded, he knew the teacher knew his name. So what then was going on? "Are you by chance related to a Mr. Lyall Lupin?"

"My father." Remus answered. Slughorn nodded.

"Good man, Lyall. I had him when he was your age. He was in Ravenclaw I believe." Remus nodded wondering what this was about. "Ah, yes. He was a good man. Been very active in protecting the wizarding population from dark creatures, especially werewolves." Remus' jaw tightened. "He was the one who got the law passed that they couldn't live within a hundred yards of a large city or town. I remember now. Didn't he believe that we should just kill them once they're bitten?" Remus had forgotten that only Dumbledore and McGonagall knew about his condition.

"Not anymore." He could barely answer.

"Pity." Remus felt the strange urge to lunge at the man's throat. Thankfully Sirius' yell distracted him.

"Pity! What do you mean pity! That's sick! How can anyone actually think that!"

Slughorn smiled like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Please don't think I am prejudice. I was merely stating that with the amount of pain they go though, they might be better off dead." It was pretty clear that no one believed him.

"Did you want us for something Professor?" James said harshly. He was struggling to stay polite. Slughorn thought for a moment and seemed to decide not to say why he had held them back. There was no chance they would come to his little get-together while they were so angry.

"No I suppose not, you may go ahead." They left quickly. Sirius felt the need to hex the nearest Slytherin out of anger.

"Merlin, what is wrong with him? Killing people for no reason! I just want too…" Sirius made a violent gesture in the air. This made Remus feel good. He was glad Sirius still thought of werewolves as people. He had been the one Remus had been worried about the most, what with his background and all.

"You'd be surprised how many people feel that way, Sirius." James said with a hard look in his eyes. "Some people are willing to kill anything that is different than us, werewolves, muggles, house-elves, anything to keep everyone the same. It isn't that much different than your family's hatred for muggleborns." Sirius stopped walking, he seemed lost in thought.

"But we don't want any of them dead." James looked back at him in surprise. This was the first time he had ever heard Sirius attempt to defend his family.

"You could have fooled me." Sirius looked at him. He seemed desperate to prove it, but he couldn't, because he knew it wasn't true. He sighed and sat down on the floor.

"Sirius." Remus knelt beside him.

"I'm sorry. This is all still kinda new to me, you know." He looked at the ground. "Two months ago I might have argued on Slughorn's side." Remus' winced; he hadn't wanted to hear that.

"We understand, Sirius." James said also kneeling beside him. Peter did also, mostly for looks though.

"Thanks James." Sirius smiled at him though it didn't reach his eyes. They stayed there for a while, James and Remus attempting to encourage Sirius. They knew how hard this was for him, but they also knew it would only get harder and that he would need them, even if he didn't realize it himself.

* * *

A/N) Hi again. Sorry for taking so long to update. Can anyone guess what Slughorn wanted? ^_^

Review! Please! I'm starting to feel kinda lonely.

Edit (8/5/2013) Edited Mr. Lupin's name due to recent cannon information.


	21. Poor Deprived Child

Chapter 21

Poor Deprived Child

Early December found James and Sirius sitting in the common room copying Remus' HOM notes, James had given Remus a chocolate frog to be allowed to do it. Remus and Peter were studying for a Transfig test the next Monday. James groaned when he came across an exceptionally difficult lesson.

"I can't wait till Christmas vacation." He slammed his head on the table in an effort to prove he was tired of school.

"Watch out James or you may just kill what few brain cells you have left." Remus teased they stared at him in shock for a second. Sirius quickly began laughing his head off. James smirked.

"Woohoo! Remus finally made a joke!" Remus blushed and hid behind his Transfig book when they started clapping. He was relieved when Sirius changed the subject.

"You can't wait for what?" He asked James.

"Christmas vacation."

"You're going on vacation?" James' eyes got huge when he heard this.

"Ya, we all are. Don't tell me you didn't know that we got two whole weeks off of school." Sirius looked confused.

"We do?" Sirius was starting to get excited. Remus answered him; worried that James might pass out.

"Yes, we get two weeks to go home and celebrate Christmas with our families."

"What's Christmas?" Sirius's excitement dropped. He couldn't go home! He had been counting on waiting till June.

James quite literally passed out. Peter and Remus just stared at him for a minute.

"You don't know what Christmas is!" Peter said as though it was like a crime or something.

"How can you not know what Christmas is?" Remus asked beginning to feel bad for Sirius again.

"Um, I don't know is it a holiday?" Sirius was very confused. If it was so important than why didn't he know it existed.

"Um, Ya! It's only the most celebrated holiday of the year." Peter looked ready to join James on the floor.

"My family only celebrates Halloween. No other holidays." Remus sighed; it made sense, as Christmas was mainly a Christian holiday. The Black family has about as much to do with the Christian religion as McGonagall has to do with Divination, which is as little as possible.

"Just Halloween, that would stink. What about your birthday's and stuff?" Peter asked.

"What about them?"

"Don't they celebrate your birthday?"

"No, why should they?" Peter finally joined James in the world of the unconscious.

Sirius turned to Remus with a worried expression in his eyes. Remus was very careful to watch his own expression. He had begun to pity Sirius and he had to be careful not to let that show. He knew Sirius would get angry if he felt he was being pitied.

"Most families celebrate when a child gets older. They have a party and give the child presents. It is supposed to make them feel loved, that everyone around is happy that they were born and stuff like that." Sirius frowned and looked at his hands.

"Does yours?" Remus nodded trying his hardest to keep the pity out of his eyes. Sirius thought about this for a moment.

"What do you do to celebrate Christmas?"

"Give each other presents." Remus though once again about just how lucky he was. He had been doing that a lot since he met Sirius. On more than one occasion he had written his parents for no reason but to tell them he loves them. He had always thought that because of his lycanthropy he was one of the most unlucky people in the world. That his life had become nothing short of horrid because of his monthly transformations. Sirius had made him realize that this isn't the case. He had parents who loved him. That was more than enough to make him lucky. He never had to worry about making a mistake; he knew that no matter what they would still love him. He had always taken that for granted, but not anymore. He was determined to be thankful for what he had.

"And I thought I had been spoiled." Sirius laughed. Remus attempted to laugh with him, Sirius didn't even seem to care that his parents seemed to hate him. This made Remus feel worse. He was so lucky and he had complained, while Sirius who truly didn't have hardly anything merely joked about it.

Sirius was attempting to ignore the look in Remus' eyes while he tried to wake James and Peter up. He knew Remus was pitying him, but he also knew Remus was trying hard not to. It was the only reason Sirius was able to hold off of yelling at him. He hated pity, it never got anyone anywhere.

When Sirius finally managed to wake James and Peter they walked down to lunch. James had a lot to say on Sirius' lack of holiday knowledge.

"I mean come on! Who doesn't celebrate Christmas?" James ranted.

"My family obviously." Sirius was getting a little annoyed. He was tired of hearing about this stupid holiday. He was dreading it. If it made him go home than he really, really hated it.

"They aren't human I tell you! Not human!" James continued ignoring Sirius' attitude. "Don't worry Si I'll still send you presents. Stupid Blacks!" Sirius stiffened.

"Are you crazy! You can't send me anything!" Sirius half yelled. They stopped, wondering what was wrong. How could anyone not want presents?

"What? Why?" James asked.

"Do you have any idea what would happen if my mother found your owl in our house! She would kill me that's what!" They stared at him for a moment.

"Why are you going home?" Remus asked quietly.

"Ya, I figured you would stay here." James said not so quietly.

"I can do that?" Sirius asked. James laughed.

"Of course you can! They don't make you go home, quite a few people stay here." Sirius gave a relieved sigh.

"Oh thank Merlin! I thought I had to go back." James laughed and shook his head.

"No, you don't. Does that explain why you suddenly started hating the holiday?" James smiled when Sirius nodded and they finished their walk to the Great Hall.

Over the next week the pre-Christmas break feeling began to set in. No one felt like working the Hufflepuff vs Ravenclaw Quidditch game came and passed. It was the only thing that the students could manage to get excited about. Teachers began lecturing their classes about the lack of homework being turned in on time. If it weren't for Remus the Marauders would easily have been among those who didn't bother anymore. Remus could often be found in the common room standing over James and Sirius making sure that their homework was being done. Either that or he would be on the couch checking over their homework for mistakes. They had all given him a chocolate frog each for this. Sirius found that no amount of chocolate or sweets could get him to do their homework for them so this was the best they could get. He usually didn't find anything wrong with it, but he did it anyway. The only one he ever really marked was Peter's.

Remus decided to make a sort of schedule. It wasn't like a normal schedule it mostly just told them how much time to spend on each thing. Such as three hours days on school work, not counting the actual classes. He had been forced to put in three hours for planning pranks as well. He wasn't going to put it at all but Sirius and James threatened to not bother even using it if he didn't put at least the same amount of time doing/planning pranks as he did for school work. Sirius and Remus got into an argument over whether or not the Map was school related or not. Sirius reasoned that since it would get them extra credit that it was. While Remus thought that extra credit didn't really count. They just decided to drop it and put another hour just for the Map. They often ignored that hour though. The schedule didn't say when they were going to do this just that they had to do it at some point in the day, if they didn't Remus charmed it to wake them up every ten minutes after they went to bed until they did. If only one of them refused it would only wake that one up. Remus was quiet proud of it. It was excellent spell work for a first year.

Surprisingly it wasn't as hard as Remus thought to get James and Sirius to do the three hours of school work. He supposed that once they were expected to do things it was easier to get them to do it. They didn't like to fall below expectations, especially Sirius who had fallen so far below what had been expected of him that one would think he wouldn't care anymore. This was proved wrong when Remus caught Sirius sneaking out of the dorm.

It was only three days before the full moon so Remus didn't even try to sleep and read a book. He hadn't turned on a light in fear that he would wake the others. He didn't really need one anyway. He could see just fine in the dark. He wasn't sure exactly if it was a werewolf thing or if it was just really bright outside. It wasn't difficult to hear Sirius sneaking out, he had been trying to be quiet, but Remus had sensitive ears. Remus didn't say anything about it figuring Sirius had a nightmare or something, but Remus began to worry when he didn't come back up. He marked his book and went down to see if Sirius was alright.

He was surprised to find Sirius on the couch attempting to transfigure a cup. He had his book in his hand and was looking stressed. He considered helping him but quickly realized that there wasn't much he could tell Sirius that he didn't already know. Remus was sure that Sirius had pretty much memorized all the notes they had taken, and all his book work for the class was excellent. This had surprised Remus when he had first started going over Sirius' homework. He had thought that Sirius just didn't understand the concept but that was not true. Sirius understood it perfectly. He could tell you exactly how you're supposed to do it, and everything. He just couldn't do it himself. Sirius was the only one who seemed to know what was wrong, though that didn't stop him from getting frustrated.

Remus sighed quietly and went back upstairs. The only one that could help Sirius was Sirius.

OOOOOOO

The next morning during breakfast McGonagall passed around a sheet telling them to sign if they were going to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas break. James watched as Sirius signed his name and felt a stab of pity when he thought of how it would feel to stay at school during the holidays. He quickly got rid of it before Sirius could see it in his eyes. It wasn't that hard, Christmas didn't really mean much to Sirius. The poor bloke had never celebrated it before. He didn't know what he was missing out on. They walked to Transfig, pushing Snape down a flight of stairs on the way. They ended up running the rest of the way when Evans began throwing hexes at them. She glared at them though the entire class.

They decided the best way to avoid the wrath of Lilly Evans was to not go to the common room. Instead they made their way down to the dungeons. They pulled out their map, which Sirius had begun taking with him everywhere. They finished the first floor a while ago and decided to go down before they went up. Thus they were doing the dungeons next. Unfortunately there proved to be a bit of a problem with this. First there was the Hufflepuff common room that they couldn't get into unless it was midnight and they had a password. The password was no big deal, they saw enough Hufflepuffs entering it that they had the password memorized, the only problem was that the only way to get to it was a specific corridor which was patrolled every night, or they were pretty sure it was every night. They had checked on many different occasions and every night it had a different Prefect in it. They wondered what was so important that in that corridor.

A bigger problem than Hufflepuff common room was that there was a big gaping hole in their map. They had measured every room but the common room, but there was no sign of what was there. It was too far away from the common room to be the dormitories either. It made no sense. They stood in front of the unidentified area.

"Maybe we need to push a brick or something." Remus suggested staring up at an ugly picture of a fruit basket.

"Why would w have to do that?" Sirius asked while he and James gave Remus a confused look.

"Muggle thing." He said, but they checked anyway.

"Muggles are weird." Sirius commented. They gave up on the brick thing and stared at the ugly picture again. "I am almost sure it has something to do with this dumb picture, who paints a picture of fruit."

"I think that is a muggle thing as well" Remus said once again attempting to move the picture to see what was behind it, and once again it refused to move.

"Need I say it again? Muggles are weird." Sirius repeated flopping on the floor and glaring at the picture as if it offended him.

"They aren't weird, they're different." Remus said also sitting on the ground.

"No they are weird." Remus decided to just let it drop.

"Come on guys, let's just work on something else, there is no point of sitting here staring at this picture." James said and Sirius and Remus got up. They went to work on a different part of the map.

"Don't worry. We'll figure it out later." Peter attempted to cheer them up. Sirius sighed; this map was beginning to feel impossible. Half way through the year almost and they only had a few floors done.

"Peter is right; the longest part is already behind us. If we do the rest of the floors anywhere near as fast as we did the first one we should be fine." Remus said knowing Sirius was beginning to give up.

"What if there are more holes like that one though." Sirius asked.

"Then we will figure them out, but until then we can get the rest of the rooms we can figure out done." James said once again unknowingly using his skills as a leader. They almost instantly believed him. If James thought they could do it than they could do it. "Even if we for some reason don't figure it out, we can turn it in without it. We have already done more than McGonagall expected us to be able. She won't complain if there are a few holes."

"But then it won't be finished." Sirius complained.

"We have seven years, Si. We are bound to figure them out sooner or later." Sirius thought about this for a moment then nodded. He really didn't like the idea of turning it in with holes in it but they didn't really have a choice, and he was sure McGonagall wouldn't mind. He just felt like she would be proud of them if it was completely finished, he really wanted her to be proud of them, or really, proud of him, if he was being honest.

* * *

A/N) That little butten that is asking you to review looks really good right now, don't it. You know you want to review.


	22. Kitchen

Chapter 22

Kitchen

Sirius' excitement over getting two whole weeks off of classes seemed to fade as they got closer and closer. When asked he said he was worried about being bored, although that wasn't exactly the truth. The truth was that he was afraid of being without his friends. They were all going home and he, well he was stuck at school with no one but Snape and a pair of twin sixth year Hufflepuffs for company. That was all the students that were staying. The way James talked it sounded like there would be a lot there. It was actually sad that he would rather stay here with Snape, or as Sirius had started calling him Snivellus, than go home to his family.

When Sirius woke up on the day the rest of the Marauders were supposed to leave it was not hard to tell he was having a bad day. He was in a very pouty mood and snapped at people a lot. He of course took his anger out on Snape. It was three hours into the day before they found Snape hanging from a chandelier.

"Well at least it's good to know he'll miss us." James said while watching McGonagall yell at Sirius for 'attacking' Snape.

"Very true." Remus agreed before sighing. "We have to tell McGonagall that we took part in it too, don't we?"

"All for one" They walked over to Sirius and began arguing with them over whether or not they had a part in it. In the end McGonagall gave all three of them a detention just to get them to shut up over whose fault it was.

Sirius walked with them to Hogsmeade station. They hugged him goodbye, which startled him a little. Hugs weren't common in the Black household. Then he walked back towards the school.

McGonagall saw Sirius walking back. She sighed, technically he wasn't supposed to be there, but she chose to ignore this and walked up to him. He looked up at her, and she smiled at him and put her arm around him. He didn't seem to mind the contact so she just left it there and they walked back to the castle.

"Since there are so few students left we have decided to have the students sleep in the Great Hall. Most of the teachers went home as well." She told him hoping to cheer him up.

"Sounds like fun" from the way he said it she was sure it didn't really sound all that fun. They finished their walk in silence.

OOOOOOO

Sirius was bored, probably more bored than he had ever been in his entire life. He even was bored enough to finish all of his homework by the end of the day after the rest of the Marauders left. He spent a lot of time working on the map. He got the Hufflepuff common room done. He was able to go in there because there was only two Hufflepuffs left. He also decided to draw the Ravenclaw tower on a different parchment. That way they didn't have to worry about it later when there were actually Ravenclaws in the school. He could add it to the original map later. He also did the Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Gryffindor dorms while their occupants were away. He had a little trouble with the female dorms but found a way around that.

One exciting thing did happen before Christmas though. He was on his way back from the Hufflepuff common room when he passed the picture of the fruit basket. He hadn't realized it but he was dragging his hand across the wall. To his surprise when his hand passed over the picture he heard a strange laughing noise. He looked over and saw the pear giggling. He looked at it for a while and it stopped moving so he did it again. It started laughing again. He started to tickle it, feeling stupid. It continued laughing and began to change. To his surprise it turned into a door handle. Sirius laughed. He did it! He found out how to get into the mystery room! He looked around to make sure that no one was around before he opened the door. He was surprised to see he wasn't the only one in here.

House-elves, hundreds of them, were hurrying from one area to another they looked hard at work. The room itself was huge, as big as the Great Hall at least.

One of the house-elves stopped when they saw him. He elbowed another one and they stopped too. By the time he noticed they were coming at least ten of the house-elves were surrounding him, murmuring excitedly.

"Um hi." He greeted more than a little nervous.

"Hello Sir" they said all at different times, making it hard to understand.

"Um, where exactly am I?" He asked knowing the house-elves would tell him.

"In Hogwarts Sir." One of them told him. He rolled his eyes.

"I know that, but where in Hogwarts. What is the purpose of this room?"

"This is the kitchen, Sir." Sirius thought about this for a moment. This was the kitchen, the place the best food in the world was made. He smiled hugely.

"Woah."

"Does Sir want something; we have never had a student here to visit us before." The house-elves looked excited and were beginning to talk amongst themselves.

"What, oh you can call me Sirius. What do you mean do I want something?"

"Food Sir isn't that why you came here?" The house-elf asked forgetting to call him by his name.

"Not really I just wanted to see what was here, but now that you mention it I am kinda hungry."

"What would Sir like?" A few of the house-elves ran off to go get things ready to make something.

"Um, I don't want to be a bother if you're busy or anything." He said

"Oh no bother Sir, no bother at all!" The house-elves seemed almost offended that he thought he was bothering them.

"Well what do you have?" He asked. This was awesome; he could get food whenever he wanted it. He didn't have to wait till the nearest meal anymore. He was very happy.

"Anything you want Sir." Sirius thought for a moment.

"What about fried chicken." The house-elves all scurried off to make his food. He couldn't imagine how but they were back with his chicken in less than five minutes.

"Woah, you guys are good." They beamed at the complement. "I wish Kreacher could do that." He sat down on a table and ate. It was the best chicken he ever had.

"So how big is this room anyway?" He asked hoping he could get out of measuring it for the map.

"The same size as the Great Hall, Sir." One of them answered, many of them had gone back to work.

"Exactly the same size." He looked at the map, a room the size of the Great Hall would be a perfect fit.

"Yes Sir." He looked at them and smiled.

"Really you can call me Sirius if you want. Or if you would rather call me Mr. Black or something go ahead. Sir is rather annoying, I'm not that old."

"Yes sir, Mr. Black, Sir." The house-elf said sort of killing the purpose of the title. Sirius laughed. He finished the rest of his chicken in silence thinking about how the other Marauders would react to this discovery when he remembered that Christmas was coming up. At first he didn't really care, but he remembered James say that he was going to send him a present. He began to feel bad; he hadn't even considered getting any of them anything. Of course, they would understand, as he had never even celebrated Christmas, but that doesn't been he felt good about it. He decided to get them something, anything. They were his friends after all. The problem was what to get them. He knew what Remus would want, but he had no way of getting any chocolate. Unless…

"Do you guys have any chocolate?" He asked the elves curiously.

"Oh yes Sir, Mr. Black Sir. Would Sir like some?"

"Well, I was thinking about giving some to my friend for Christmas, do you think you have any that can be sent though the mail?" The house elf nodded quickly and ran off. He quickly brought back a basket. It was even wrapped in paper with Christmas trees on it. He looked at it curiously.

"What is the paper for?" He asked.

"Mr. Sir said it was a Christmas present so we wrapped it for you?" Sirius smiled at them.

"Thanks?" He said still not sure what the purpose of the paper was but figured that they knew more about this Christmas thing than he did. He put the present down for a second and finished drawing the kitchen on the map. He stood up to leave bringing Remus' present with him.

"Thank you very much." He told the elves they bowed and said goodbye as he walked out the door. He walked towards the Gryffindor tower. He had to find something for James and Peter as well. He placed Remus' present on his semi abandoned bed.

At first he thought sleeping the Great Hall with everyone else would stink, but it really wasn't that bad. Snape stayed as far away from him as possible and the two Hufflepuff twins were actually really good company. They would have been better if they didn't see him as a cute little first year. Professor McGonagall was always there and for that he was thankful. Though every time he got into a conversation with her he felt like a teacher's pet, and it was difficult to hold a conversation with someone when you feel like that. He was starting to get kind of close to the teacher though.

He was still thinking about the upsides, and downsides to being a teacher's friend when he found the perfect present for James. His mirror, not just any mirror of course but a two sided mirror. With this they could talk any were, any time, any place. He had two of them that connected. His uncle had given them to him a while back as a reward for getting his Hogwarts letter. It was perfect, he was sure James would love it. He walked down to the Great Hall leaving Remus' present there knowing it was safer in their dorm. He brought the mirrors though.

When he got to the Great Hall he had just barely beaten curfew, and he still hadn't thought of what to get Peter. He saw the Hufflepuff twins wrapping a few of their presents and watched them for a while. He absolutely could not figure out how or why they were doing it. Wouldn't the present be just as good without the dumb paper?

"You look confused." He turned to see McGonagall.

"Why are they wrapping it?" He asked her, he had already told her that his family had never celebrated Christmas.

"So the ones who receive it won't know what it is until they open it. Half the fun is unwrapping the gift to see what you got."

"Oh, how do you wrap it?" He asked her as he sat down in what he deemed to be his section of the Great Hall. They each had claimed their own parts, the parts closest to where their house tables usually sat naturally. She sat down next to him.

"Is that what you want to wrap?" She asked pointing at the mirror. He nodded and she showed him. He felt rather pathetic really.

"That is the muggle way to do it, and the way you would do it if you had gone home. There is also a spell you can use." She unwrapped the present, pointed her wand at it, and said a spell. It wrapped itself perfectly.

"Sweet, I think I'll do it that way." She laughed and stood, then walked over to the twins. He looked at his, no James', mirror and smiled. It felt kind of good to give someone something.

"Darn it, I still have to think of something for Peter." He said to himself and lied down, he couldn't think of anything Peter would like. Maybe he would send him his homework so Peter could copy it. He laughed at himself and fell asleep.


	23. First Christmas

Chapter 23

First Christmas

Christmas was approaching fast. Sirius decided to give Peter a book that Peter had borrowed from him at least three times. It was one of the few books Sirius owned that they had not decided to burn as soon as they found a good fire spell. Remus hadn't been to keen on the idea, but changed his mind when he read a few of them. He easily agreed to burn them all after that. He seemed unusually eager to burn one that was about dark creatures for some reason.

Remus didn't like anything that had anything to do with magical creatures. James thought that Remus had a bad experience with one or something. Sirius figured he was probably right, but he couldn't help but feel that there was more to it than that.

Sirius couldn't help but noticing all the little signs that there was something different about Remus. He was almost always sick, especially, it seemed, around the time his mother falls ill. He was also very fast, for being so small and sickly. He had great hearing. Sirius had seen proof of this many times. Though he was sure Remus was trying to hide it…

Sirius stopped his train of thought there. If Remus was hiding something it was not any of his business. Remus liked his privacy, it wasn't right for him to try to invade it like he was. Maybe he wasn't hiding it maybe he just hadn't thought to tell them. He decided to talk to him about it later. Until then he was content to just work on the Map.

Well not exactly content. He was still extremely bored, though not as lonely. He had made friends with the house-elves in the kitchen. He had even got them to call him Mr. Sirius, which was a huge improvement over 'Sir, Mr. Black, Sir' He couldn't wait to tell the rest of the Marauders. He almost told them in a letter but decided that he would rather tell them in person.

He got a letter from at least one of them a day, which he immediately responded to. They may be gone but they certainly hadn't forgotten him. He was so relieved, he had been afraid that their parents might have attempted to convince them that he was a bad influence, or that they shouldn't be friends with a Black. Actually though according to James and Remus their parents couldn't wait to meet him. Remus' parents were a bit hesitant to encourage a closer friendship between them, as they thought Sirius was a bad influence. That was another thing he had been worried about, he didn't want Remus getting in trouble for what he had pressured him into doing. He knew that he had influenced them into becoming troublemakers, but he also knew that they weren't hurting anyone, and that Remus was mature enough to set a limit for the amount of trouble they could cause, smart enough to stay under that limit, and brave enough keep the rest of the Marauders under that limit. He sent Mr. and Mrs. Lupin a letter explaining this not long after Remus had gone home. It may have been the reason that they didn't mind Remus remaining friends with Sirius. Sirius was rather proud of himself for thinking of telling them himself instead of getting Remus to do it, and they seemed to respect him more for it.

Sirius growled at Peter's present. The stupid book would not wrap. He couldn't remember the spell and couldn't figure out how to do it the muggle way. He sighed and flopped back on his sleeping bag.

"Ah forget it!" He stood and carried the book down to the dungeons. He walked to the bowl of fruit and tickled the pear.

"Hello Mr. Sirius!" One of the house-elves greeted.

"Hey, I was wondering if you could wrap this for me. I can't figure out how to do it." The elf eagerly took the book and ran off with it. It came back quickly with a perfectly wrapped book.

"Thanks" He said smiling and then left.

He walked back to the Great hall, wondering whether he should wait till Christmas Eve or if he should sent the presents now. He decided to wait; he didn't want them to get it too early. When he got in the Great hall he sat down on his sleeping bag and watched the twins for a while, they were giggling over a piece of paper in their hands.

"Girls" He mumbled and pulled out the Map. He felt rather proud of himself. He had gotten half a floor done in just the time that the rest of the Marauders had left. It was hard doing it by himself but he had spent all his free time on it. Remus put a counter charm on their schedule thing and planned to redo it when he got back so he didn't have to waist his break studying. Though he did study when he got extremely bored and it was after curfew.

OOOOOO

Christmas Eve was rather anticlimactic. Sirius finally found out that the names of the twins were Samantha, or Sam, and Kristy, or Kris, but that was really the only thing that happened. On Christmas morning Sirius woke to the sound of the twins laughing and cheering. At first he ignored them, as it wasn't the first time they had gotten loud. Thinking it was just a normal day he tried to get back to sleep.

When he gave up and opened his eyes the first thing he noticed was that Snape and McGonagall weren't there. The next thing was there was a small pile of wrapped gifts by his feet. He stared at them for a moment trying to figure out what they were before he remembered it was Christmas. He had been so busy trying to figure out what to get them for the holiday he didn't even celebrate that hadn't even thought that they might get him something. He blushed a little and realized that there were more than three presents there. There were five. Who else had sent him something? He shuffled around them looking for tags.

Sirius laughed when he saw one with dogs on the wrapping paper. He instantly knew who it was from, and when he looked he was right, James. Ever since he had told them where his name came from James had made it his mission to bring it up every chance he could. He swore it was the perfect name for Sirius. What with the growling and all. They had even decided that his laugh sounded like a bark.

Sirius was surprised when he found out who the two extra presents were from. Mr. and Mrs. Potter and Mr. and Mrs. Lupin. They both had cards on them.

The first was from the Potters.

_Dear Sirius Black,_

_Our Jamesie has told us that your family doesn't celebrate Christmas so we decided to help make your first Christmas the best we possibly could. We can't wait to meet the boy James has told us so much about._

_Merry Christmas,_

_Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Potter._

Sirius smiled at the note. He had never met the Potters but anyone that his mother hated and had had a kid like James could not be a bad person. He opened the present; it was a biography of his favorite Quidditch player. He laid it next to him and looked at the note from Remus' parents.

_Dear Sirius,_

_We know that you don't know us, but with how much Remus has told us about you we feel like we have known you for a very long time. In your letter you expressed your concern that Remus would get in trouble for the pranks you admit were your idea. You have no idea how touched we were, and are, by your concern for our son. We are not sure if you know this, Remus thinks that you do, but you are the first person Remus has ever called his friend. In his letter to us you were the first one he mentioned He thinks of you as nothing less than a brother. Remus has changed quite a bit since we watched him go on the Hogwarts Express and every change we have seen has made him a better person. This gift is a thank you for what you have done for our son._

_Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!_

_Mr. and Mrs. Lupin._

Sirius wiped a tear from his eye when he finished the letter. He knew then he had made a better choice by being in Gryffindor, there was no longer a doubt in his mind. Nothing his mother had ever told him had ever made him feel as good as that letter did. He had known that Remus didn't have any friends before the Marauders, what he hadn't known was that even among the Marauders he was his first friend. He tried to imagine what Remus' life would be like if he had chose to be sorted in Slytherin. It was a horrible thought. He opened the present to find a journal. It was very nice, and beautifully decorated. He hoped they didn't spend too much money on it; they didn't have enough to be spending it on him. He opened it to find that every page looked different, some had an outdoorsy theme, such as mountains or a forest, and others had things like Quidditch or chess. The first page had a large Gryffindor lion in the background. He was afraid that if he wrote in it, it would be ruined. He put the card inside the journal and set them under the biography from the Potters. He was worried that if he kept looking at it he would start crying, and he really didn't want that.

He picked up Peter's present nest, knowing that there would be absolutely nothing mushy about it. He was thankfully right; he opened it and saw a book. It was a story about a wizard who ended up slaying a dragon. Sirius placed it next to the other presents, and picked up James'. He saw a card James put on it. He was worried when he opened it, thankfully it contained no mush.

_Roses are red; Violets are blue  
Monkeys like u should be kept in zoo.  
Don't feel so angry you will find me there too  
Not in cage but laughing at you._

Sirius laughed, it was exactly what he needed. It was just like James to insult him in a friendly way. He opened the present, gladly ripping the dog paper. It was another book, though this one was the best of all. **One Hundred and One Pranks for the Young Wizard.** Sirius laughed again, and looked at number one and laughed it was the very first prank they did. Throwing the Slytherins clothes in the lake, though it wasn't so specific about the victims. James left a note in the cover.

_Ironic ain't it. I picked this up and this was the first thing I saw. I just had to get it, if only for the memory, it was our very first prank. I can still remember Snivellus' face when he walked into the Great Hall that morning. Oh that moment was priceless. See ya soon Si._

Sirius laughed again. James was right, though priceless still didn't seem to catch the beauty of that moment. Sirius placed the both of James' notes in the book and placed it beside the others. If they kept this up he would have his personal library restored sooner than he thought. He picked up Remus' present and instantly knew it wasn't a book. So everyone but Remus had got him a book of some form. He smiled to himself that would have been the exact opposite of how he would have expected had he actually expected to get any presents. Remus' had a card as well. He slowly opened the card; half praying it didn't contain the same thing his parents had. He didn't think he could handle it if it did. Thankfully, Remus seemed to have been rather hyper when he wrote the card.

_Hope this fixes your boredom problem!!!!!_

Sirius laughed when he saw Remus had drawn all over the card. Yes, he had definitely been hyper. They had gotten him in that mood every once in a while. He was very talented; he could act drunk without even touching a drop of alcohol. Sirius opened the present and was surprised to find a pack of dungbombs and a fanged Frisbee. His jaw dropped while he hurriedly hid the dungbombs in his sleeping bag. Remus sent him stuff that wasn't allowed at Hogwarts! Now that was a surprise. Thankfully the Fanged Frisbee wasn't against the rules…yet. He was going to have fun with these. By the end of the day he had used up half of the dungbombs and gotten Filtch to swear that Fanged Frisbees were going to be banned. It was all together a great day. The Christmas feast was amazing; somehow even better than the beginning of the year feast. He even held a full conversation with Dumbledore, that didn't involve misbehaver. It was a wonderful day; the only thing that could have made it better was if the rest of the Marauders were there with him.

* * *

A/N) I found the poem on the internet; it's from someone called Lollygal. I don't own it but I wish I did.

Aww! YAY Sirius had his first Christmas!


	24. Reunion

Chapter 24

Reunions

"James! Remus! Peter!" James heard the yelling over the crowd, which was a pretty big accomplishment with how loud it was. James laughed when Sirius nearly tackled him.

"I missed you too, Si" James watched as Sirius put one arm around Remus' shoulders, causing Remus to laugh and half hugged Peter with the other hand. When he dropped his arms he still had a huge smile on his face.

"At least you got to be around people you like. I had to spend my time with Snivellus and a couple of sixth year girls." Sirius attempted to frown, but he was so happy he couldn't. Instead he just looked funny and they laughed all the way back to Hogwarts. When they got to the castle they went straight up to their dorm. James flopped on his bed.

"Man, it's good to be back." He said as he watched Remus unpack a few things, mostly books. He heard Sirius laugh.

"You haven't eaten all that yet?" He said to Remus. Remus looked confused for a moment then laughed.

"Not yet, there is a lot of it?" James and Peter looked at each other with confused looks.

"Where did you get it? It must have cost a fortune." He looked at Sirius with a worried look. Sirius smiled he seemed proud of himself.

"What?" James asked, but Sirius ignored him.

"Was it that good? I didn't spend anything on it." Remus' eyes widened. "Actually I didn't spend anything on any of you." James felt surprised; the mirror Sirius had given him looked expensive.

"How did you get them then?" James asked.

"Peter's was a book I already had. He barrowed it from me at least three times and I don't care for it all that much so I gave it to him." Peter smiled.

"Thanks."

"No problem." He turned to James. "Yours was a gift from my uncle, I have the other one. Remus'…" He stopped when James gave him a confused look. "What?"

"The other one?"

"Ya, they don't work if there aren't two of them."

"There are two of them?" They stared at each other for a moment than Sirius laughed.

"You have no idea what that is do you?" He said pointing to the mirror that was now in James' hand.

"It's a mirror." Sirius sighed.

"It's a two way mirror." James continued looking confused for a moment, and then he seemed to understand,

"No way!" Sirius laughed and pulled out the other one. James ran over to look at it.

"What is a two way mirror? Remus asked and walked over to them. James ran out of the room. Sirius laughed.

"You'll see," he said pointing at the mirror. Peter also walked over though he knew that it was. Remus jumped when he saw James' face in the mirror.

"Hey, James" Sirius said calmly. He was loving this.

"This is so cool!" James responded and Sirius smirked. He stood and leaned on the door.

"I know, Jamesie, I know." He said laughing, James was silent, and Remus could see James turning red.

"How did you…?" His voice trailed off. Remus was confused, but Peter started laughing.

"Your mommy sent me a letter with her present, Jamesie." Sirius started laughing again. James' face was now very red with embarrassment. Remus laughed quietly.

James' face disappeared from the mirror and Remus could hear him coming up the stairs. He didn't bother to try and open the door. He already knew Sirius would be blocking it.

"Let me in Sirius." He said sounding mad.

"What's wrong, Jamesie-poo?" Sirius laughed even harder at his new nickname.

"Sirius let me in so I can KILL YOU!" James yelled and started pushing on the door.

"Oh, ya, because that is going to make me let you in sooner. Really smart Jamesie-poo" Sirius said barely able to stop laughing long enough to finish.

"Fine then. I'll just wait here. You have to come out sometime. Unless you want do starve to death." Sirius' smile faded and he sighed. He knew it was better to just get it over with so he opened the door. James tackled him.

When James was done with him they walked down to the hospital wing hoping Madam Pomfrey could keep the sore spots from becoming bruises. She was laughing as she rubbed some ointment on his 'wounds'.

"Does no one care that I'm in pain?" Sirius complained because everyone was laughing at him.

"Of course not, are you kidding." James teased. Sirius stuck his tongue out at him and looked at Remus.

"You care, don't you Remmy." Remus looked at Sirius for a second before turning away and laughed again. Sirius pouted, then smiled he'd really missed his friends.

He was almost completely healed when they left. Remus looked at Sirius attempting to keep from laughing again.

"You never told me where you got my present." He reminded. Sirius stopped walking and smiled another big smile.

"I'll show you!" He grabbed Remus's arm and pulled him down the stairs. James and Peter ran after them.

"Where are we going?" Remus asked.

"You'll see!" Sirius answered as they entered the dungeons. The stopped in front of the ugly picture of the bowl of fruit.

"You found out what is behind here?" James asked excitedly. Sirius smirked, then walked up to the picture and tickled the pear. It laughed and turned into a handle of a door. Sirius pulled it open. Their mouths dropped in surprise when the saw the room and at least a hundred house-elves.

"Whoa! What is this?" James asked.

"This is the kitchen where the world's best food is made." Some of the elves came over to them.

"Hello Mr. Sirius! Would you like something Sir?" Sirius gave them a friendly smile.

"Hey guys." He turned back to the Marauders. "You guys hungry?" He smirked when he saw them in shock.

"Hungry?" James was the first to recover.

"Ya, they will get you anything you want if you ask."

"Awesome!" James exclaimed. What interested Remus the most was the house-elves themselves. He had never seen one before. When Sirius explained that they were servants Remus felt rather bad for them. It took a while before he realized that they liked it that way.

"Did you add this room to the Map, Si" James asked with his mouth half full.

"Of course I did!" Sirius looked offended then laughed as he pulled out the Map.

"Woah." Remus said looking at everything Sirius had accomplished while they were gone. He almost had the first floor done. "You've been busy."

"I had a lot of free time. I did this and the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff dormitories and common rooms. It was a lot easier for me to do it now that there was no one hardly left in the school. I put the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers on different parchments. We can move them over when we get far enough." It was obvious Sirius was proud of himself. "I also got all my homework done and even studied some."

Remus smiled at him, pride was obvious in his face. He had expected to have to make Sirius do his homework. James laughed.

"Our little Siri's all grown up now." He looked at Remus with fake tears and they all laughed.

"So what if I have… _Jamesie-poo_." James stopped laughing and slammed his head on the table. Sirius was never going to let him live that down.

"So we heard about our gifts, but what did you get Si." James asked desperate for a subject change. "Did you like them?"

"Very much." Sirius had a mischievous smile on his face.

"What all did you get?" James asked and Remus turned a little red.

"Mostly books. I got that biography from your mother, finished it already. Another book from Peter, half done with it. I've read a few pages from that one you got me." Sirius told them.

"I didn't read anything but the fist page. Are they any good?" James asked and Sirius thought about it for a moment.

"Eh, their ok. None of them are brilliant so far, but they aren't amateurs either. Probably won't use any of them exactly but it has given me ideas." James smirked.

"What kind of ideas?"

"Well I have a few things planned for Snivellus." Sirius grinned evilly.

When they left they headed towards the Gryffindor tower. It was past curfew so they had to be careful. It still didn't keep them from talking though.

"You didn't tell us what Remus got you." James reminded. Remus turned red and refused to look at anyone.

"From Remus' facial expression I don't think he wants me too." Sirius laughed and Remus turned redder. "But I do feel the need to warn you that if you smell an extremely foul stench it means Filtch is somewhere close by." Sirius laughed and Remus hid his face in his hands, although he was trying not to laugh. "Oh and Fanged Frisbees are going to be banned." Remus couldn't keep from laughing any longer; thankfully he managed to keep quiet.

"Remus gave you a Fanged Frisbee! Remmy I didn't know you had it in you!" James looked proudly at Remus.

"And a whole pack of dungbombs," Sirius added and James' eyes widened.

"Remus those are against the rules!" James laughed and hugged Remus. "Our little Remmy is finally loosing up!" Remus was extremely embarrassed by now.

"What did you do to Filtch?" Remus asked when he pulled away from James.

"Stuffed half of them in his pockets and set them all off at the same time." Sirius smirked. "I plan to do the res when the smell starts to go away."

"You are evil," James smirked also and gave Sirius a high-five. Remus laughed quietly. They walked to the portrait of the fat lady and told her the password. She was half asleep and didn't bother telling them off for being out after hours.

"Did you get the present from my parents?" Remus asked noticing Sirius blush a little.

"Ya, did you read the card they sent with it?" He asked and Remus shook his head. Sirius sighed in relief. "Good you don't want to." Remus looked at him curiously.

"Why? What did it say?" Remus asked.

"You really don't want to know" Remus looked away hiding his embarrassment.

"I'll take your word for it."

"What did they get you?" James asked and Sirius pulled out the journal. "Wow, this looks rather expensive." He flipped through the pages.

"It wasn't expensive at all. My mum bought it at a muggle store and my dad enchanted the pages to look cool." Remus made a mental note to tell them that he liked it so much.

"Very cool, only problem is that I'm worried if I actually write in it, it might ruin it." They laughed. Sirius sat on his bed. "So what did you guys get?" James smirked. It looked like he had been waiting for someone to ask him that all day.

"I got an invisibility cloak." He said it so calmly that at first none of them noticed what he said but they slowly noticed.

"You got what!" Sirius exclaimed sitting up. James smirked again."

"An invisibility cloak." Sirius stood and ran over to James.

"You're kidding!" James laughed and began looking though his trunk. He pulled out a silvery cloak. Sirius' eyes widened. Remus came over to them and looked at it.

"What does it do? I mean it can't actually make you invisible right?" Remus asked. Sirius seemed speechless and James had a huge grin.

"Let's see shall we?" He said putting on the cloak. He was completely invisible.

"Woah" Remus managed to say. Sirius still seemed speechless. James' head appeared out of nowhere behind Sirius.

"BOO!" Sirius yelped and jumped back. He stared at James' floating head for a moment.

"Don't do that!" Sirius said breathing heavily and causing James to laugh even harder. He took it off.

"Wanna try?" James said holding it out to Sirius. Sirius completely forgot he was mad at James.

"Ya!" James handed it over and Sirius put it on. He poked his head out and looked at himself. "Awesome!" He disappeared again. James was laughing and Remus noticed the door open by itself.

"Sirius? Um James I think Sirius left." James stopped laughing and looked at the open door. James looked back to Remus.

"Perhaps giving Sirius an object that turns him invisible is not such a good idea." They stared at each other for a second.

"Aw crap! I got him a Fanged Frisbee!" They dashed out the door and Peter followed, laughing a little.

They sighed in relief when they got to the common room and it was still intact, until they heard someone yelling. Remus jumped when someone put their hand on his shoulder. They heard Sirius chuckle though they still couldn't see him.

"What did you do?" James asked quietly so it didn't look like he was talking to thin air.

"I stuck the frisbee down that guy's shirt." They looked and saw someone dancing around. They started laughing hard. They headed back to their dorm when Sirius managed to get his frisbee back. He took off the cloak and they laughed until their ribs hurt, by then it was past midnight and they remembered they had classes in the morning. They quickly went to bed, knowing they would regret staying up so late in the morning.


	25. Welcome Home

Chapter 25

Welcome Home

"So what are we going to do now?" James asked. It was Saturday, and their first full day back from Christmas break. They were lying in their dorm, Peter was finishing his homework and the rest of them were bored.

Sirius sat up. "I think The Marauders need to welcome everyone back." He smirked and James sat up, with a similar smirk on his face.

"What are we going to do this time?"

"We should use our new toys to our advantage." Sirius returned pulling out the book James got him.

"I thought you weren't planning on using any of those." James asked walking over, Remus and Peter walked over as well.

"I'm not. There is a cool spell in here we can use." He answered turning to a marked page. "You cast the spell on any object ant then when you recite the spell again the object you put it on explodes."

"It isn't dangerous is it?" Remus asked, sometime he felt he was the only one that was cared if someone got hurt.

"No I used it on the dungbombs in Filtch's pocket he didn't even feel it." Sirius laughed. "But he sure smelled it."

"What do we cast it on?" James asked pacing again.

"The pictures?" Peter suggested, probably the best idea he'd had all year. It still wasn't very good though.

"To many of them, it would take forever." James said after a little thought.

"I have an idea!" Remus said surprising them. "What if we do it on the food. "We can go to the kitchen and put the charm on it then."

Sirius beamed and gave Remus a one armed hug. "That is an excellent idea! I'm so proud of you Remmy!" Remus rolled his eyes.

James laughed. "I'm going to have to get used to you being so involved in this."

"Yes, yes you are." Remus smiled.

"Do you think they will be working on lunch yet?" Peter asked.

"Definitely, there is only an hour till it starts." Remus answered. "How are we going to keep the house-elves from seeing us?"

"I brought the cloak!" James said proudly and pulled it out.

"Only problem with that is there is no way it will fit all four of us." Remus said. "Should just one of us go?"

"That's probably a good idea." James said to Remus and handed it over to him."It was your idea." Remus nodded and pulled on the cloak, read the spell in the book a few times, then went into the kitchen.

"James, Sirius, and Peter stood outside waiting for him to come back.

"Are we going to leave a note?" James broke the short silence between them.

"If we don't how will they know it was the Marauders who did it?" Sirius answered with a question.

"What will we write it with?" They thought about it for a while, and James began to pace. "I should have got some paint during the break."

"Oh! Flitwick has some paint. The third years use it to test their levitation balance." Peter said remembering something the teacher had told him during his first detention.

"Perfect!" Sirius exclaimed running off.

"How does he intend to get some of it?" Peter asked James who shrugged.

"I have no idea."

When Remus came out they went to find Sirius. They found him carrying a small jug of green paint.

"How did you get it without him seeing?" Peter asked amazed.

"I didn't, I brought it to me." He showed them by levitating the bucket.

"Green?" James asked, noticing the bright neon green color of the paint.

"It was either that or bright pink. I refuse to be associated with the color pink." Sirius shrugged and stuffed the jug in his pocket.

"I don't think that will be enough." Remus added.

"I reduced the size of it, when I undo it the rest will fill it back up. I'll do that under the table." He explained as they waked towards the Great Hall.

They were glad to see the Great Hall full for lunch. It was the perfect setting for the Marauders. Dumbledore stood to talk to the students. Sirius hid the paint and levitated the brush to an area far away from them, still keeping it hidden.

"If I could have everyone's attention please." Dumbledore began. "I hope that everyone had an excellent holiday. I am afraid I have to tell you that the Hogwarts caretaker Filtch, has felt the need to add a new item to the banned list. Fanged Frisbees are no longer allowed within the school." Sirius and James laughed loudly. Remus hid his face in his hands.

"Now I hope that is the last of the bad news we have to hear..." Dumbledore's voice trailed off as he read what was now written on the wall

**And That is where our opinions differ then.**

To the Marauders enjoyment McGonagall slammed her head into her palm. Dumbledore kept a straight face, but there was humor in his voice.

"Why am I not surprised to see you here?"

Sirius whispered to Remus. "Ready?" Remus nodded.

"I'll tell you when." James told Remus, James had a good view of the entire room, while Remus and Sirius's had their back to most of the students.

Sirius began to write his next response, choosing to ignore Dumbledore's rhetorical statement.

**The Marauders would like to welcome the students home.**

Sirius paused for a moment, and James whispered.

"Now."

Remus recited the spell and was a very loud bang and many of the students screamed. There was food everywhere. Remus was sure that there was some on the enchanted ceiling. Sirius pretended to freeze in shock as he finished the conversation between Dumbledore and the Marauders.

**I hope you enjoyed your Christmas Present.**

Sirius dropped the brush and id hit the ground unnoticed. James looked around while trying to get pudding off of his glasses. Most of the girls seemed thoroughly disgusted, quite a few of them were crying over a ruined shirt. Some of the boys seemed to be contemplating a food fight, but McGonagall was giving detentions to anyone she saw anywhere near throwing food.

The Marauders jumped when Sirius screamed loudly. He was covered head to toe in food. His hair was dripping with some strange mixture of pudding and pumpkin juice. The entire school began laughing at him.

"Si, are you ok?" James asked surprised by Sirius' reaction.

"I have pudding in my hair!" Sirius yelled. No one could hold in their laughter, even the girls that had been acting the same way. James and Peter were laughing just as loud as they were. Remus was attempting to hide it, failing miserably.

Sirius ran out of the room. James managed to calm down enough to suggest following him and they walked to the dorm knowing Sirius wouldn't get out of the shower for at least an hour.

When they got back to the dorm they sat and waited for him to get out. To their surprise it only took him half an hour. He smiled at them when he saw them.

"What was that?" James asked smirking.

"I felt like making a scene." Sirius laughed.

"So you did that just for attention?" Remus asked. He was confused, weren't there better ways of getting attention.

"Yes." He said smiling hugely.

"Everyone thinks you're a prat now." James said smirking.

Sirius just shrugged. "They can think what they want."

"Hey if nothing else no one will ever suspect that you are one of the Marauders, which means we are all safe." James sat on his bed.

"Umm, Ya let's pretend that is why I did it." Sirius said and laughed. The Marauders laughed. They were glad to be back together.

* * *

A/N) I am so sorry for taking so long to update. I have horrible writers block, I have no idea what is going to happen to them from, now to the end of the year. I welcome ideas, but it will probably be a long time before I can update again. I am so sorry.


	26. The Potions Master

Chapter 26

The Potions Master

School over the next few weeks was exhausting. They had tons of homework and it was beginning to get really hard, even for James which was amazing in its self. Potions was the only thing James and Sirius weren't worried about. They were doing great, though Remus was sure Slughorn was favoring them. The Potions teacher seemed to be trying to get on their good sides and none of them could figure out why. He was the head of the Slytherin house, why would he be favoring Gryffindors. It wasn't long before they found out exactly why.

"James, Sirius, could the two of you stay after class today?" Sirius paused in the middle of packing up his books. Ever since their last after school talk Sirius had shown a strong amount of dislike for the Professor. When they asked he merely shrugged and said the he remind him of his parents. Sirius hated anything that reminded him of his parents.

"Yes Professor." James said worried that this would turn out like last time.

"I would like to speak with you two alone if you would." He said the last part to Remus and Peter.

James was surprised when he heard Remus give a low growl. He was sure Slughorn couldn't hear it though. "It's alright you can go ahead, we will catch up." He told Remus a little worried about what he would do. Remus gave Slughorn a warning look before exiting the room and Peter followed, more than a little confused about Remus' actions.

"What do you need Professor?" James said politely it was difficult, even he had a strong dislike of the man. Anyone who thought the idea of killing people was ok was the kind of person he did not want to be around. Especially werewolves, didn't they already have enough to deal with without having people hate them for something that isn't even their fault. They didn't choose to be bitten.

"I would like to invite you boys to a little party I'm having. It's on..."

"No." Sirius interrupted rudely. Slughorn looked at him in surprise for a moment. Apparently he was expecting Sirius to be as polite towards him as the rest of the Blacks. Believe it or not, to people they liked the Blacks were very polite, something about being an extremely old and proud family. Sirius wasn't like that, at least not anymore. Now he was just polite to the people he thought deserved it, and Slughorn certainly didn't deserve it. Sirius couldn't help but calling the Professor a murderer in his head.

"Now no need to be so quick about it, take some time and think..."

"No." Sirius repeated and walked out of the door with an arrogant strut. Slughorn hid his disappointment poorly and looked to James with little hope in his eyes.

James shrugged. "You heard the man." He said and followed Sirius out the door. When James caught up with Sirius the latter began a long stream of insults towards the potions master.

"How could that lowlife, cowardly, stupid, corpulent, enervated, incompetent, hardhearted, asinine..." Sirius continued. James was sure that Sirius forgot that he was actually trying to form a sentence. When they got into the common room Sirius had begun to add a few swear words into his insults. Words, that he had no doubt learned from his mother.

"What is he going off about?" Remus asked after watching Sirius pace, never ending his rant.

"Slugface invited us to some dumb party." James replied lounging on his bed. He was getting more and more grateful that he didn't understand anything Sirius was saying at this point. It seemed that he had run out of English swear words to say so he moved on to French.

"That doesn't exactly explain it, being invited to a party is not a good reason to call someone every insult in the English language and possibly half of the French insults as well." Remus said watching Sirius move on to Russian.

"He has plenty of reason to hate Sluggy. First Slugbreath thinks murder is a-ok, then he absolutely loves the Black family, then he reminds Sirius of the family he hates, then he is the head of the Slytherin house, and last but certainly not least the only reason he likes us is because we belong to important families." Remus looked surprised.

"How do you know that?" Peter asked before Remus could.

"We had a warning. One of my second cousins warned me that Slugdunce would probably pull something like this. He is a collector, He goes for the ones that have 'potential' now while they are in school so that later he can use that connection for his own personal gains. By potential of course I mean that they are related to someone famous." By this time Remus' mouth was hanging open and Sirius had finally either run out of insults or calmed down enough to stop using them.

"I knew that guy was no good." That was all Remus managed to say. "I vote we all just stay as far away from him as possible."

"I second that." Sirius said like this was some kind of official business.

"I agree." James said "Three out of four wins, we are staying far away from Slugdunce."

"Actually I think It's unanimous." Peter said smiling, he had never liked Slughorn that much anyway.

"Even better. Now lets get to bed, before we end up dreaming about the loser or something scary like that." James said, closing the curtain around his bed so he could get dressed.

"Ohh Now that would be a nightmare." Sirius said back climbing into his bed as well.

Unfortunately staying away from Slughorn was harder than they thought. The teacher seemed to enjoy pestering them about the party. Even after the party date was past he bugged them about coming to the next one. It was at lunch a month later that Sirius had finally had enough of the annoying man.

"Now I know you all have a lot of homework and everything but surely this weekend you can find enough time to..." He began again, Sirius had turned red before Slughorn had even got to the word homework.

"WILL YOU SHUT UP YOU ANNOYING, OLD MAN! I HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE WITH YOUR STUPID PARTIES!" Sirius yelled pointing to his forehead. Suddenly the entire room was watching the two of them. Remus slammed his head into the table and Slughorn was looking positively alarmed.

"Now Now there is..." Slughorn was interrupted again.

"SHUT UP! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF HEARING YOUR VOICE! EVERYTIME I HEAR IT, I FEEL LIKE STRANGLING SOMETHING, NAMELY YOU!" Slughorn was nothing short of terrified by now, only causing Sirius to smile cruelly.

Sirius felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Professor McGonagall giving him a sharp look. James sighed, another detention for Sirius. Now he was twenty detentions short of of beating Sirius' number of detentions. They were having a little competition over who could get the most detentions by the end of the year. Strangely enough Remus was actually willing to keep track of their number of detentions for them. Even stranger, Remus was recording his own as well, thus showing that he was entering into the competition as well. The only rule of it was that they couldn't get the detentions on purpose. If any detentions were found to be on purpose the culprit was disqualified.

"Follow me Black." McGonagall said calmly and Sirius followed her out the door.

"Slughorn ran off." Remus said quietly watching the staff table where the teacher had ran too.

"Coward." James said below his breath. Slughorn thankfully left them alone after this, and to Sirius it was well worth being forced to help Hagrid feed a bunch of unknown creature and getting bit by one of them. Even worth the week he had to spend in the hospital wing because his arm swelled to the size of James' ego, which by the way is huge. James didn't think his ego was that big, but Sirius was sure of it, especially because James was laughing at him most of the time he was in the hospital. Needless to say they were all thankful that they only had to deal with Slughorn during class.

* * *

A/N) Yes I did use a dictionary and a thesaurus to think of Sirius' insults can you tell?

I wouldn't expect another update for a while, I just got Sims 2 so I will be distracted. Sorry, I have a problem with my priorities. Reviews make me want to update faster though, so review, review like the wind.

Also can you tell I didn't like Slughorn in the book, I think I made it obvious.

Words of wisdom for the day: Tacos are good for the soul. ^_^


	27. Jealousy

Chapter 27

Jealousy

Slughorn didn't dare ask them about his parties again. James and Sirius noticed a huge decline in the amount of favoritism he showed them. Thankfully they didn't need it, they were already some of the best in their class. The only Gryffindor in the class that was better then them was Lilly Evans, which to no one's surprise drove Sirius crazy.

He was trying to stop feeling that way, because he knew the only reason he felt that way was because she was a muggleborn. He kept telling himself that she was just as good as him, but it wasn't helping. Sirius was surprised when James was so understanding. James would never think of a muggleborn as below him. The prat may act like he was better than everyone else, but he didn't actually believe it. The problem was that for some reason no one, including himself, could understand he refused to let James help him. He was even refusing help with Transfig, which James had been giving him help with all year, causing his grade to drop. He was determined to do it himself.

"Sirius, you're doing it wrong." James commented reading over Sirius' shoulder. James' determination to help his friend was not helping keep the dorm room peaceful.

"Leave me alone James." Sirius said without looking up, but he did cross out his answer and start over again.

"You're supposed to subtract the weight of the rat by the weight of what you're turning it into." James told him when he started doing wrong again. Sirius stared a his paper for a moment then slammed his head on the table. He had been doing it wrong for an entire hour. He just wasted all that time, and that wasn't even the worst part. He had to have James tell him that he was doing is wrong. He couldn't even figure it out by himself.

Sirius sat up quickly. He knew exactly what was wrong with him. He was jealous of James. He moaned, why shouldn't he be. James was perfect, he was good at everything. Even outside of school he never got really angry, he never judged anyone, he was even starting to get just as good as Sirius in pulling pranks on people, and Sirius had been doing that his whole life. Sirius sighed and stood up, James gave him an odd look as he walked out of the room.

He sat down in a large chair by the fireplace in the common room. He tried to restart his homework, but couldn't concentrate so he grabbed the homework he screwed up on and threw it into the fire and sat there and watched it burn.

"Somebody looks like they fell off the happy tree." He heard a girl's voice behind him. He turned to look at the person that spoke and to his surprise he found Lilly Evans leaning on the back of his chair.

"What does that mean?" He asked after a few moments of trying to figure out what a happy train was.

"Just forget it." She moved over to the couch and lounged on it. She looked like she had just gotten out of bed; she had on a baggy pair of pants and a shirt that was at least two sizes too big for her. That surprised him.

"I swiped it from my dad a long time ago." She said noticing his curious look. Have you ever worn a shirt too big for you; it's really comfortable."

"No, I can't say I have." He answered wondering why anyone would wear clothes that didn't fit them.

"You should try it." She gave a short smile then went back to looking annoyed .

"What is wrong with you?" He asked though he didn't really care.

"I could ask you the same question."

"But I asked first." He knew he wouldn't answer her when she asked so it wasn't really polite to ask her, but he didn't really care about being polite right now. He wasn't really even really sure why he was even talking to her, but it did feel kind of good to talk to someone outside of the Marauders for once.

"The girls in my dorm are too loud and I couldn't sleep;I was hoping to get some sleep down here."

"Don't let me stop you." he told her and turned back to the fireplace. There was an awkward silence for a short time and it drove her crazy.

"Why are you down here?" She asked hoping to break it.

He didn't answer at all. She had been expecting a 'none of your business' ore something but not to be completely ignored. Unfortunately for Sirius that was a pet peeve of hers. It made her become determined to make him answer her.

"Did someone make you mad?" She asked but he still didn't answer. "Or did you make someone else mad?"

He sighed, he was sure she wasn't going to leave him alone. She noticed his transfig book on the floor beside him.

"Are you mad because Remus won't let you copy his homework?"

"Remus never lets me copy his homework." He said thankful for a change of subject. "And how come you call Remus by his first name but the rest of us by our last?"

"Because Remus is more mature than the rest of you idiots."

"Are you kidding! Remmy is about as mature as a week old puppy."

"That's a nice thing to say about your friend, and I don't believe that for a second." She rolled her eyes at him. "Remus isn't stupid enough to put purple dye in the prefects bathroom like you losers did."

"That was Remus' idea! And how did you know it was us?"

"You really expect me to believe that? And you losers are the only ones who would actually be stupid enough to think of is and brave enough to actually do it."

"You can believe what ever you want, Evans." He told her choosing to ignore the rest of her sentence.

"You still didn't answer my question."

"What question is that?"

"Do you have short term memory loss or something?"

"No just a very short attention span. You're lucky I've managed to keep from getting distracted this long." He smirked at his own joke.

"What are you doing down here?"

"James was making me mad." He told her without thinking.

"What did the prat do this time?" She was surprised when he didn't defend James from her insult. Sirius sighed realizing that he had said too much.

"It isn't really him I'm mad at I guess."

"Then who are you mad at?" Sirius thought for a moment wondering if he should tell her what was going on. Maybe she could help.

"I think I'm mad at myself, but I'm not sure." He said quietly. "I think I'm jealous of him."

"Jealous? Why?"

"He's so good at everything. No matter how hard I try I can't find anything he isn't instantly good at." To his surprise he actually did feel better, apparently talking about it did help.

She thought about this for a minute, it did make sense, from what she had noticed everything always seemed to just come naturally to the boy.

"I don't know why, but it sorta just happened, I didn't really even realize it before." He continued.

"I know one thing he isn't good at." Sirius looked up at her. "Being humble." She smiled at him but he just looked back at the floor.

"Actually he's good at that too. He just doesn't apply it to everyone."

"I'm not sure I believe that either." He didn't respond. "I think you should tell him about this, or maybe you should try and concentrate on the things you're good at too, because to the rest of us normal people, you're amazingly good at everything too." Sirius watched her for a moment.

"Are you kidding? I can't even transfigure a pin cushion."

"Everyone has flaws, Black."

"James doesn't"

"Yes he does, you just haven't found it yet. Be glad that you only have one major flaw instead of like fifty, like Pettigrew does."

"Peter isn't that bad. He just has a little brain problem, as in his brain is too little."

"You are mean, Black." She said though she couldn't help but laugh. "First Remus is a puppy now Pettigrew's brain is too small; some friend you are." Sirius just smiled and picked up his transfig book. He figured it wouldn't hurt to try again.

"Need some help? I'm not as good as James, but I'm still better than you are." She said smirking.

"In that case you're perfect." he moved over to the couch beside her and they worked on the homework. When they were done with Transfig he returned the favor and helped her with astronomy. By the time they were done with that it was a good thing it was Friday.

"Thanks a lot, I don't know why but talking to you helped a lot." He said before standing.

"Why do you hate Severus so much? You seem like you could be really good friends." He looked at her in surprise. He had forgotten that she was friends with Snape.

"He started it, he made that dumb joke just before the sorting about me being in Slytherin."

"But didn't you want to be in Slytherin?"

"No."

"Oh, I just figured that with your family..."

"Just because their jerks doesn't mean that I have to be one too." He told her harshly. She looked up at him in surprise.

"Not all Slytherins are bad you know. Serv introduced me to some of them and they were kind of nice."

"If they were nice to you then they didn't know you were a muggleborn. I'll bet he lied to them. None of them are nice, especially to you."

"You're wrong!"

"I live with them!" He yelled accidentally letting his anger get out of control.

"I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want, but when one of them starts attacking you don't come crying to me."

"I wouldn't have anyway!" She stomped up the stairs to the girls dorm and Sirius rolled his eyes. She would have to figure it out the hard way; just like he did. He sighed and looked out the window, noticing the nearly-full moon. Remus would be leaving soon, he wasn't sure why but Remus always left on a full moon. Maybe his mom's illness had something to do with the phases of the moon. He didn't really feel like worrying about it now though. Sirius climbed up the stairs to the dorm and wasn't surprised when Remus poked his head out of the curtains around his bed.

"Sirius what were you doing down there? You know it's almost three in the morning right?"

"Sorry, I wasn't watching the time. I managed to get my homework done though."

"That's good." Sirius nodded and climbed into bed.

"Good night Remus."

"Night."

* * *

A/N) Hi!!!!! Sorry about the Sirius emo chapter, but I really wanted him to be jealous. So I did. I promise I won't have another emo chapter for a while.

I've had a lot of time to write lately so I have the next chapter done to, but you have to wait for it. Man I'm evil.

The Sophomores at my school are taking a graduation test, I passed all mine but since I can't drive _ I still have to ride the bus. So I had a whole two hours in the morning to sit in the cafeteria and do nothing. You guys benefit from my pain, be greatfull.


	28. The Room of Requirement

Chapter 28

The Room of Requirement

"I think we're missing something, guys." Sirius said stopping in the middle of the seventh floor hallway, staring at the Map. James, Remus, and Peter looked over his shoulder and he pointed to a small but noticeable blank spot. They walked over to where the blank spot was.

"What do you think it is?" Peter asked attempting to push random bricks on the wall hopping it would open.

"Look how small it is; it's probably just a closet or something. The real question is how to get in there." James replied, he was checking out the tapestry on the opposite wall. It was a weird picture of dancing trolls. He was even trying to tickle the trolls.

"I can't imagine it having anything to do with the tapestry, James." Remus told him.

"Why? The other one opened by the picture."

"That's exactly why James. It would make it too obvious. If they wanted it to be that obvious they would have made a door."

"Why would they try to hide a closet?"

"Maybe they hid a dead body in there." Sirius said excitedly. They just stared. "What?"

"Seriously?" Remus for the millionth time wondered what in the world was going on in his head. Sirius glared at him. "What?"

"Say that to me again and I might attack you." They gave him confused looks.

"What do you have against the word Serious?"

"I'll give you three guesses." They paused for a moment before James burst out laughing. Sirius slammed his face into his palm.

"Serious!" He chocked out before falling to the floor. Remus sighed.

"Sorry, Sirius. I didn't mean to."

"I don't get it." Peter said confused.

"It's a word pun, Peter. The word serous and Sirius' name sound like the same word."

"Make any jokes about it and I will throw you in the lake for giant squid food." Sirius threatened trying very hard to ignore James, who was still on the floor.

"You're not usually against any joke. Usually you laugh about the dumb ones, what is different about that one."

"After a while it gets old. Cissy used to tease me with it every time she came over. She may just be the lest creative person in the world."

"Who is Cissy?" Peter asked.

"One of my cousins."

"Does she go here?" Remus looked confused.

"Nah, she decided to go to Durmstrang, they teach dark arts there." (A/N Sorry I recently realized Narcissa was not in this story at all. This is my excuse.)

"Oh. They do? Why?" Remus said surprised. Sirius just shrugged.

"Back to the topic at hand, how are we going to get into that room?" James asked, none of them had noticed him get off the floor. They went back to staring at the blank wall and James began to pace.

"Maybe there just isn't anything there." Sirius began to watch James pace.

"There has to be something in there, and we need to find out what it is." He continued pacing thinking about their need.

"Look!" Remus exclaimed pointing at the wall, that now had a large door on it. "How did it open?"

Sirius walked up to the door and opened it. "Let's worry about it later." James nodded and all of them walked into the room.

"They were surprised when the only thing it contained was a bookshelf. Remus to no ones surprise walked up to it and began looking though the books it contains.

"What is the point of this? This is the most useless room in the world." James complained, he couldn't find a purpose for the room to exist.

"Maybe it's not." Remus said waving them over to the bookshelf. "They are all about map making."

James looked though the books and found that Remus was right. Everyone of the books had something to do with maps.

"Guys, no one has ever made a map of the school before, why would anyone ever need this." Sirius pulled out one of the books and began looking though it.

"You've got a point, why would the builders put a room in the middle of nowhere with stuff in it that no one is going to need, and then hide it." Remus sounded confused.

"Oh well, let's just finish this room and get out of here." Sirius said putting the book back. "I need something to write on." Sirius thought out loud. "I'll just use one of these books."

"Why don't you use that desk?" Peter questioned.

"What desk?"

"That one right there." Peter pointed to a small desk near the entrance. They stared at it.

"That wasn't there before." James said shocked. "I swear that wasn't there before."

"We know." Sirius and Remus said at the same time. Sirius walked over to it

"How did it get here?"

"You know, what I think is strange is that it appeared when Sirius mentioned he needed it." Remus seemed to be lost in thought.

"Maybe the room gives you what you need." James said. "Actually guys didn't it open when I said we need to find out what is in it?"

"Yes, that must be it. It appears when you need it and gives you what you need." Remus said excitedly.

"So it's the complete opposite of useless." James walked over to the wall and patted it. "Sorry I called you useless."

"James, mate, you do realize you are talking to a wall, right?"

"Ya, but if it's able to understand us when we say we need something then it can understand me now." Sirius just laughed and shook his head.

They attempted to continue with the map, until Sirius quickly ran into a problem.

James, Remus, and Peter walked over to him when he told them about it. He attempted to draw a line but none of the ink came off the quill.

"Either my ink became invisible in the last five minutes or we have a problem."

"This room must be unplotable." Remus stated the obvious.

"Darn it. Now what?"

"Why would they put something unplotable inside something unplotable? It doesn't make any sense."

"They wanted to keep it out of the wrong hands" Sirius told them.

"Huh?"

"Do you have any idea what a dark wizard could do with this room? If they figured out how to use it correctly they could get weapons of mass destruction from it or something."

"I suppose then, it's a good thing we cant put it on the Map." James said and Sirius nodded.

"Let's remember where this is though, it could be useful later."

"We should give it a name." James said as they walked out of the room.

"Why?" Sirius asked amused.

"I just think we should."

"James, you are so childish." Sirius teased, and James stuck his tongue out at him.

"Do you want a name or a title?" Remus asked.

"Little of both, something that sorta describes what it does." Remus thought for a moment.

"The Room of Requirement."

* * *

A/N) Sorry again about the Narcissa problem, oh well everyone makes mistakes.

The Room of Requirement to me is as much of a character as the sorting hat, I don't know why but it seems alive, so I am probably going to have them talk quite a bit.

I'm still looking for prank ideas and reviews.


	29. Coward

Chapter 29

Coward

Sirius and James had never been so bored in their life. Remus was making them study, he even went as far as threatening them. He was going to tell them that it was them who dyed the prefects bath purple, and if McGonagall found out she would give them a detention for every prefect that walked out of there with purple skin, and it wouldn't even be counted in the competition because Remus was the one keeping score. Sirius decided to change his nickname to cheater for revenge.

"Do you think the levitating spell will be on it?" Peter asked, he didn't want to miss anything.

"Definitely." James answered and Sirius leaned back in his chair.

"This is dumb, the only subject I need to study for is transfig and I already did that."

"It doesn't hurt to study a little more." Remus said, not looking up from his book.

"It does too. All this information is hurting my brain. It's sensitive, it can only take so much at a time." James laughed.

"Trust me Si, we all know how little and weak..." James couldn't continue do Sirius putting him in a head lock.

"Take it back." Sirius demanded but James just laughed even harder. "Take it back Jamesy-poo."

"Stop calling me that!" James said and began struggling, which was exactly what Sirius was hoping for.

"Take it back and I'll consider it."

"No."

"Then I won't either, Jamesy." Sirius teased when James managed to break free. James tackled him.

Remus sighed and stood to put his book away and get a new one. He shook his head at the two boys wrestling on the floor and just stepped over them. When his got back to the table, he noticed Peter watching them admiringly.

"What's wrong Peter?"

"Nothing." Peter looked back at the notes he was reading. Remus made it pretty obvious that he didn't believe him. "It's nothing really." He tried to pass it off, but realized he did want to talk about it. "I wish I was strong like that."Remus looked at them rolling around on the floor.

"It doesn't look strong to me, just immature."

"I think it looks strong, look at them, I'd be begging to go to the hospital wing by now." Remus chuckled.

"Promise me something Peter." Remus said smiling at him.

"What?"

"Promise me you would try and change just to be like them." Remus gave him a soft look. "Everyone's different Peter, you should be happy with who you are, because it's who you are. Don't try to be like someone else." Peter looked at him in surprise.

"But-But I'm a coward."

"There is a difference between trying to improve yourself and trying to be like someone else Peter. You need to want to be stronger to improve yourself, not because James and Sirius are stronger."

Peter looked at the table, thinking about what Remus said. He looked at James and Sirius who were finally starting to tire of their fight, and probably didn't even remember why they were fighting in the first place.

"What is a good reason to want to be strong then?"

"Well, protecting someone is always a good reason. I think that's why Sirius does it." Remus said watching Sirius get off the floor and help James up.

"Why do you think that?"

"Have you ever noticed that he seems to get kind of protective over us?" Peter shook his head, he actually noticed how harsh Sirius was with them.

"One example is when he got so mad at that last howler. You had to have noticed the difference between that one and the one before it." Remus looked away from Sirius and James who seemed to be thinking up another of their schemes.

"The first time he tried to cheer us up." Peter said glad to actually be able to contribute some information. "And the second time Dumbledore had to knock him out." Remus nodded.

"The first time his mother was insulting him, the second time his mother was insulting us." Peter thought about this for a moment, and realized Remus was right. Sirius hadn't cared in the slightest when his mother had insulted him, but when she started on his friends he became nearly uncontrollable. Peter nodded and opened his mouth to speak, but Sirius unknowingly interrupted him.

"Hey Remus." Sirius said innocently instantly causing Remus to become suspicious.

"What?" He asked eying Sirius warily as he sat in a chair beside him.

"I was wondering..." Sirius paused for a moment. "Since we've been so good.." Remus snorted.

"Good you call wrestling around on the floor as being good?" Sirius thought about this for a moment.

"One second." he said rushing back to James. Remus laughed. Next James came over.

"Remus..." Remus interrupted him before he could get his hopes up.

"I think you two had a big enough break while you were wrestling on the floor."

"That's exactly why we need a break Rem." Sirius joined into the conversation. "I'm.." James glared at him. "I mean we, have been studying so hard that I as starting to worry that our brains have completely snapped." He said overdramaticly.

"Right, I mean why else would I attack my second best friend it the entire world."

"Second." Sirius glared at him.

"Umm..." James face turned red.

"Who's number one then!"

"Umm..."

"It's Peter isn't it, just because you've known him longer."

"Umm..." James began to back away.

"Sirius I think he only said that to get on my good side." Remus defended though he knew Sirius already knew. Sirius looked curiously at Remus for a moment.

"You have a good side?" He teased causing James and Peter to laugh. Remus smirked.

"No, but a guy's allowed to dream." They were all laughing now,

"If you boys don't quiet down I am going to kick you out again." They jumped when they heard the librarian's voice behind them.

"Sorry ma'am, we didn't mean to." James said quieting his giggles. The librarian rolled her eyes, obviously not believing him for a moment, and walked away.

"Seriously though Remus, I think we do need a break." James said, and Sirius nodded after glaring at James for a second because his word choice.

"Fine, go ahead, but don't take too long. Sirius still needs to do a decent transfiguration."

"Yes!" they cheered and gave each other a high five. They walked out of the little circle of bookshelves that hid the table they were sitting at. They walked along the shelves of books not even looking at them.

"Do you think you'll be okay for the transfig exam?" James asked Sirius, it was the first thing that popped into his head to talk about.

"I don't think Remus is going to let me not be okay." He joked. "Calm down, I'll be fine."

"What about History of Magic? You sleep though that whole class." Sirius laughed though a little confused as to why James was so worried about him.

"Trust me James I learn more from copying Cheater's notes then I ever would from Binns. In fact I told Remus he should be a teacher when he grows up because of how much detail he puts in the notes."

"What did he say?"

"He acted kind of weird actually; said he didn't think that was possible and walked off." Sirius paused for a moment considering whether or not to voice his thoughts, he chose to, maybe James would tell him how ridiculous he was being so he could finally believe it. "I think he's hiding something, James." James didn't answer for a while.

"I've been thinking that too." James told him crushing all hope Sirius had that James would calm his fears.

"Should we talk to him about it?" Sirius asked, but James shook his head.

"No, if he wants us to know then he will tell us, otherwise it isn't any of our business."

"But what if it's important?"

"If it was important than he would tell us."

"What if... What if he isn't telling us because he doesn't really want to be around us?" James gave him a confused look. "I mean what if he has ulterior motives to being our friend?"

"Why in the world would he do that?" Sirius looked at the ground and James sighed. "Sirius you can't be suspicious of everyone who won't tell you everything about them."

"I know, but why would he be keeping secrets from us?"

"Maybe he doesn't trust us enough with them, and who can blame him you know we've only known each other for a school year."

"It doesn't feel like it's only been that long, it feels like I've known you guys forever." James smirked glad for the change in subject.

"But if we had known each other forever then you wouldn't be such a bad kid."

"What makes you think that? No I think if we had known each other forever then you would be a bad kid too."

"Would not, I definitely have more influence on you then you do on me."

"I'm the reason you're a bad kid now." James opened his mouth to retaliate but couldn't think of a good response, Sirius just smirked.

"Fine you win." James gave up and began looking though some of the books, Sirius did the same quickly pulling one out.

"Have you ever seen a patronus James?"

"Huh?" James looked at Sirius, noticing he had a book on patronus. "Ya, my dad's is an owl and my mom's is a unicorn."

"Really?" Sirius looked up from the book. "Are they cool looking?"

"Ya, they look awesome, especially when my dad's flies."

"They've always kinda intrigued me. You know their made of nothing but happiness?" James just nodded. "I suppose that's why I've never seen one, there's nothing happy at Grimmauld Place."

"I'm sure you could find something..."

"There are house-elf heads mounted on the walls, James." James stared at him.

"Please tell me you're kidding."

"Nope. When they can't work anymore 'we' cut off their heads and mount them on the walls." Sirius sarcastically over pronounced 'we', he was really wishing he wasn't part of that 'we'.

"That's sick." James said looking completely disgusted "I think now would be a good time to change the subject before I barf."

Sirius chuckled before nodded. "When do we get out of school?"

"Third week of June." Sirius moaned.

"Only a month of freedom left."

"You know, most people look forward to getting out of school." James teased.

"Do you?" Sirius asked and James thought about it.

"Well I'm not sure, I miss my parents, and I miss being able to get out of bed when ever I want. On the other hand though, I know I'm going to miss you guys, and I will be worrying about you all summer."

"Don't worry about me I'll be fine."

"I will anyway." James said in a way that Sirius easily realized that he wouldn't win if they got into a fight over it, so he ignored it. "What do you think your parents are going to do when you get home?"

"Depends on which parent your talking about. My father probably won't even acknowledge I'm home, though he probably wouldn't have if I had been the perfect child either."

"Why?"

"He never leaves his study for anything but food, and sometimes he has Kreacher deliver that to his study too. I don't think I've had more than one full conversation with him my whole life." James was surprised by this, he couldn't even imagine a dad like that. "Though my Mother is a completely different story. She will probably yell a lot then lock me in my room or something."

"Hm." James leaned against a bookshelf. Well we've got that two-way mirror remember. So we can talk when ever we want."

Sirius smiled. "Don't be surprised if I bug you a lot with it, I'll probably need it to stay sane."

"I would if I were you."

"No, if you were me then you would probably die." Sirius teased, trying to lighten up the mood.

"Would not."

"You would too, your parents spoil you too much."

"I'm not spoiled."

"Oh please, your parents would let you get away with murder."

"They would not." James' face was beginning to turn red.

"Yes they would and you know it."

"Shut up." He knew it was true, but he refused to admit it, especially to Sirius. "We should probably get back and study some more. I'm still having problems with all those names in History of Magic." Sirius nodded and they headed back to where Remus and Peter should have been sitting.

They were surprised though as to what they found when they got there. There was only one Marauder there, apparently Peter had booked it when the other guests showed up. There were four Slytherins surrounding Remus.

"Expelliarmus!" Sirius yelled pointing his wand unsurprisingly at the biggest one. James noticed Snape was there, though he didn't know the other three.

The Slytherins turned at Sirius' yell, the one he had aimed for just smirked and easily retrieved his wand.

"You okay, Remus." Sirius asked while James got his wand out as well, though he knew he wouldn't be much help in combat. Unlike Sirius, his parents hadn't illegally taught him underage magic.

"Depends on what you mean by okay." Remus answered his voice shaking ab bit. Sirius got a mean look on his face.

"You're gonna regret ganging up on him like that." Most of the Slytherins just laughed.

"Aww the little first year thinks he's tough." One of them taunted.

"Is it okay if I go get some help, or do you need me to stay?" James whispered in Sirius' ear.

"Please get help" Sirius quietly begged, he wasn't as calm as he let on. James ran off. Sirius didn't respond the the Slytherins taunt, he just stood with his wand ready for an attack. Remus noticed him shaking a little, it wasn't even enough to make the Slytherins notice. He marveled at Sirius' ability to hide his fear, it was nothing short of amazing.

"Stupefy." On of the Slytherins cried, and then it began. Sirius was barely able to dodge the spell he hid under the tables and began flying random spells in every direction. Remus managed to push away from the Slytherins and get under the table as well. He didn't know near as many spell but was still able to think of a few he could use. Sirius was just shooting off random spells that happened to be the first ones that came to his mind.

James was surprised when he came back and found Sirius and Remus hiding under the table. One of the Slytherins was petrified and another one was trying to find his wand. What really surprised James was that none of the Slytherins had their natural hair color.

The librarian's face turned blood red and she easily petrified the Slytherins. As soon as they were all on the ground Sirius and Remus came out.

"I was going to do that, you just got to it first." Sirius said helping Remus off the floor.

"Sure you could, Si" James teased. "Why do they have multicolored hair?"

"Umm, it was a defensive maneuver, it easily distracted them allowing us to get to safety." James laughed.

"In other words it was the first thing that popped in your head."

"Yep."

"Are you boys alright?" The librarian asked.

"I'm fine. What about you Rem?"

"I'm fine."

The librarian nodded then levitated the Slytherins out of the library, not bothering to make sure they didn't hit their heads on anything.

"She is really mad they made a mess in her library." Sirius observed, Remus laughed quietly.

"She'll be even madder when she sees what they did with her books." He said picking up a book and watching as the pages fell out. "In fact when she does she may want their heads on a silver platter." James and Sirius nodded.

"We should probably leave before she comes back."

"That is a good idea."

The walked out of the library and headed towards the common room.

"Why did they attack you Remus?" James asked curiously.

"I'm not really sure."

"I think it's obvious why, it's because of all the pranks we've pulled on them. I think we need to find a better way to protect ourselves we're beginning to become a target." Sirius suggested and they all knew he was right.

"True, we will probably have to do it quickly too, we can't wait till the teachers teach us how."

"I can teach you some of the stuff I know to start with, that way we can all be on the same level. I can also learn at home. I'm going to have plenty of time alone this summer." Sirius said the last bit rather bitterly.

"You can't, It's illegal to do magic outside of school." Remus said.

"They only enforce that rule on muggleborns, Remus." James explained

"Why?"

"Because they have no way of telling when a person with wizards in their family is doing magic, they can only tell that magic was performed around the underage wizard, not who is performing the magic."

"That's annoying, would they be able to tell if I did magic at home?"

"Not if your around your dad." Sirius told him. "Which is dumb because we don't have to be anywhere near our parents."

"Dad said they don't bother putting sensors on pure-bloods because there is so much magic around them that it would be going off so often that it isn't worth it." James told them, he had already explained that his dad worked for the Ministry of Magic.

"Oh." Sirius said the password for the Gryffindor common room. "Peter!"

James and Remus followed Sirius' gaze and saw peter sitting on the couch by himself. He looked up fearfully at Sirius.

"Where have you been!" He yelled though knowing the answer.

"Um...I" Peter stuttered.

James watched as Sirius' expression turned murderous. He had apparently been hoping Peter had left before the Slytherins attacked, but Peter knew exactly what had happened. He sighed, he couldn't defend Peter this time.

"What is wrong with you! If you were going to run away like a coward at least get a teacher or something! What if Remus had gotten hurt!" Everyone in the room was watching Sirius yell.

"Um.." Peter couldn't even think of an excuse, he looked to James hopefully. James just shook his head.

"I'm not going to make excuses for you every time you screw up Peter." James told him. Sirius continued glaring and Remus sighed.

"Come on guys. It's over with now let's just forget about it." Sirius growled and stomped to their dorm not agreeing to anything. James followed him hoping to calm him down.

"Told you I was a coward." Peter said quietly and was surprised when Remus answered.

"The only thing you're doing that's cowardly is not trying to be brave. You could be brave if you were willing to face you fears, but you won't, you run away from them and expect them to just turn out okay while you're gone. This time it worked but next time, James and Sirius might not be there to fix what you ran away from." Remus told him before following them up the stairs.

Peter didn't follow, he knew he had been sorted into the wrong house.

* * *

A/N) Hi again. This chapter, was mostly just character development. It was actually really hard, because when I started it I really had no idea what I was going to put in it. I really had no plan on them being attacked, I just wanted to mention that they did do some studying, and I noticed it was kind of starting to get boring so I let Remus get bullied. Weird how my mind works, I want entertainment so I put in a fight .

Wow, this story is 130 pages in a word document. I'm rather proud of myself.

Thanks to Lovealwayshopes for her support of this story. It's really helped me keep going.

I hope I'm not boreing you to death. Next chapter the Map is back! Until then my loyal readers! I bid you adieu.


	30. Sid the Squid

Chapter 30

Sid the Squid

Their exams weren't as hard as they expected them to be. Even James who thought they would be easy was a little surprised at how fast he was getting them done. Peter was the only one even remotely worried about them. All that extra studying did help, even Sirius was forced to admit it.  
Right now though they were just glad they were over and the teachers would be laying off the homework a bit.

"Sirius wait up!" James called. They were heading outside for some well deserved rest, and Sirius couldn't help but run over to the lake and scream about exams being over at the top of his lungs, causing almost all of the people around him to laugh. When James, Remus, and Peter finally got to the lake, James smirked at them. Sirius yelped when James pushed him into the lake. This caused even more laughter than Sirius' yell.

Sirius laughed after he surfaced. "Very funny Potter." he said sarcastically, causing James to laugh even harder. Sirius went to get out of the water obviously contemplating his revenge when he yelped and was dragged back down in. James rolled his eyes.

"You don't actually think I would believe that. That's probably the..." He started but stopped Sirius popped back up from the water, though he wasn't alone. A giant squid was easily visible just under the surface of the water. It had one tentacle wrapped around Sirius' leg. Sirius tried to swim away but it wasn't letting go. James quickly dived in the water after his friend, Remus nearly followed before having a better idea. He turned around and ran. He heard Peter call his name but kept going.

"Please be home! Please be home!" He said to himself while pounding on Hagrid's door. He was relieved when Hagrid opened it.

"'Ello there Remus."

"A giant squid is attacking Sirius!" He yelled, and Hagrid looked over his shoulder and saw the giant squid hanging Sirius upsidown. His cloak had fallen down showing a pair of jeans he stole from James. Hagrid sighed and headed towards the lake. James stopped firing random hexes when he saw Hagrid coming.

"Sid put him down!" Hagrid yelled in a billowing voice, the squid hesitated before dropping Sirius back into the water. James dived in after him and came back up with Sirius' arm over his shoulder. They began swimming back while Hagrid lectured the squid on grabbing people. He helped them back on solid ground. "Sorry 'bout that. He didn't mean ter hurt ya. 'Es just curious that's all."

"Huh.. Oh it's fine he didn't hurt me." Sirius reassured but when he tried to stand on his own his leg collapsed on him. James caught him while Remus looked at his leg. He winced when he saw large round sores from the suction cups on the squid's tentacles.

"What do you mean it didn't hurt you?"

"Woops." Sirius said allowing James to help him stand. He was surprised to see there was a large crowd surrounding them.

"Madam Pomfrey should be able to heal that right up." Hagrid told him attempting to pick Sirius up to make it easier on James. Sirius just waved off Hagrid's attempts and stayed half leaning on James. They headed to the hospital wing with Hagrid and a large amount of other students following them. Hagrid wanted to explain what happened to the healer but James for the life of him could not figure out why the rest were following them. Remus was the first to walk into the hospital wing and the first one Madam Pomfrey noticed.

"Remus, what's wrong you should still have plenty of time..." Her voice trailed off when she saw James half carrying Sirius. "Oh my." She walked over to them when Hagrid began explaining.

"Sirius 'parently decided ter go for a swim." Surprisingly the healer instantly understood the problem.

"James pushed me!" Sirius defended and James turned red.

"Woops." The healer rolled her eyes.

"Where did it get you?"

"The leg." Sirius answered and pulled up the leg on his pants, or James' pants really.

"I've been wondering where them jeans went." James said to himself when Madam Pomfrey led Sirius over to one of the beds. Sirius sat down on it but wouldn't lay down. The healer left to get something to put on his leg after shooing everyone, including Hagrid away.

"What was Madam Pomfrey talking to you about when you came in Remus." Sirius asked him trying to pass the time.

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all." Remus said though Sirius noticed he paled a little. Sirius looked at James who shook his head then sighed, he hated knowing Remus was keeping secrets but not knowing what it was. Madam Pomfrey came back with a potion.

"The may hurt some." She told him but Sirius just shrugged. She put it on his leg and he winced a little, but didn't make a sound. When she was done she rolled his pants leg back down and told him it would be gone by the end of the day, and that if he didn't feel he could walk back to his dorm he could stay there. Sirius rolled his eyes and stood, favoring his uninjured leg of course. James walked over to him and helped him walk out of the room though he swore he didn't need help.

By the time they got to their common room word of what happened spread over the entire school. A large amount of Gryffindors were in the common room begging for a first hand account on what happened. Sirius described it once then refused to do it again. They climbed up the stairs to their dorm, Sirius locked the door with a spell, then sat down on their beds.

"Does it hurt?" Peter asked speaking for the first time since Remus ran to get Hagrid. He was disappointed in himself again. He didn't do anything to help Sirius get away from the squid.

"Not really. Just when I put pressure on it." Sirius answered then they were all quiet for while.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize James you didn't know it was there." James just nodded though he still seemed quite sorry. "I'm bored let's do something."

"Like what?"

"We could practice some defensive spells." Remus suggested.

"Is that a good idea I mean Sirius is kinda hurt."

"As long as I don't stand up and no one hits me with any spells that could make me use my leg in any way, I'll be fine." James nodded.

"What should we start with?" He looked at Sirius, knowing Sirius had the most experience with spells of any kind.

"I think expelliarmus is a good place to start."

"That disarms people right." Remus asked remembering Sirius doing it to one of the Slytherins. Sirius nodded.

Sirius spent the rest of the day teaching them how to do it correctly. By the time they decided to stop for the day Remus could get his opponents wands to come to him and James' knocked someone clear across the room, Peter was still feeling the effects of that one.

Like Madam Pomfrey promised Sirius' leg was fine the next day. They decided since it was Saturday and they had done enough learning in the past two weeks to last them a month that they would do something much less educational. When they were done at least ten Slytherins were covered from head to toe in what looked like mud, except that it hardened very quickly. They were completely unable to move until a teacher managed to find them.

When they got back to the common room successfully without being caught James and Sirius shared another high five.

"How long do you think they'll be standing there?" Remus asked with humor in his voice.

"Who knows. Hopefully a long time." Sirius answered chuckling and walked over to the desk. "Hey guys, we should probably finish the Map."

"Oh ya, I forgot about that." James said walking over to where Sirius was holding it. They had been so concerned about the exams they had completely forgotten that the Map still wasn't finished.

"Ya, let's do that now." Remus replied. "What more do we have to do on it?"

"Just the North tower, and Dumbledore's office."

"Let's go to the North Tower first, might as well get done before we figure out how to get passed the headmaster. " James said and the rest followed. They didn't have much trouble finding the North Tower, they would have been able to find it even without the map, though they used it, if only because they were proud of it.

It was a little while before they really found out how to get into the North Tower. One of the people in the paintings who called himself Sir Cadogan, refused to tell them until they beat him in a fight. Sirius quickly got annoyed by the man on the fat pony and accepted his 'duel' Sirius then flipped his painting upsidown, causing him and the pony to fall into the sky endlessly until he coincided defeat. Sir Cadogan respectfully kept his word and told them about the trap door into the Divination classroom. They thanked him and then figured out how to get into the classroom, making sure to make a note of how they got into it on the map. They were surprised by how the classroom was decorated. There was a lot of gold, and not much to really make it clear that it was a Divination classroom. James remembered hearing that the Divination teacher was self-centered and greedy. One of his cousins had sworn up and down that if you predicted that he would become the richest man on earth you would pass the entire class without even trying. He told this to the others.

"From the way he decorates his room one could easily assume that your cousin is right."Remus looked around to see if the teacher was there. James turned to Sirius.

"What do we need to do?"

"I really don't think you need to do anything, this room is obviously the only thing up here. I think I just need to label it." James nodded.

"The teacher isn't in here." Remus told them. "Are you done with what ever you're doing to the Map." Sirius nodded, like he said earlier there wasn't much to do.

"Let's get out of here then and figure out a way to get into Dumbledore's office." They climbed out of the trap door and walked towards the gargoyle that protected the headmaster's office, Sir Cadogan bowed to Sirius as they walked passed. When they got to the gargoyle they stopped.

"What now? We know the password, but if he's in there..." Sirius didn't need to finish they all knew what he meant.

"Maybe we should just go up there and see for ourselves if he is in there." James suggested.

"That's a bad idea, if he is we will surely get caught."

"Oh I know, a few of us can go cause a ruckus somewhere in the castle, then one of the teachers will come and get him, we can sneak in then." Sirius said proudly.

"And what if they don't get him? The teachers don't come running to him for every little thing that goes on, they usually handle it by themselves, you of all people should know that."

"Very true Remus." Sirius jumped at the new voice and turned around he found himself staring straight at Dumbledore.

"Um.. Hello Sir."

"If I didn't know better it would sound like you four have some intention to break into my office." Peter turned red and hid behind James.

"Of course not Sr." Sirius said though he knew Dumbledore saw though it easily. He could feel the eyes behind the half moon glasses. "We weren't really going to break in Sir, we just wanted a look inside. Nothing would be broken at all."

"Mr. Black if I am correct, which I usually am, you have had a look inside my office more times then most of the other students combined." Dumbledore stated referring to the many times McGonagall had gotten so frustrated with the Marauders she had just dragged them to Dumbledore office and half begged him to do something about them.

"I know Sir, but.." Sirius couldn't think of how to explain. Dumbledore smiled kindly.

"I assume this has something to do with your little extra credit assignment from McGonagall." They looked at him in surprise.

"You know about that?"

"Oh yes, in fact I think all of the teachers know. Minerva was quite proud of herself when she told us she had found a way to keep Sirius Black out of trouble." He said with a twinkle in his eye. Sirius blushed."Unfortunately it would seem as though she was wrong. You have still managed to make things around here as interesting as a bag of pop rocks." Sirius thought about the comparison for a while but it confused him so he pushed it from his mind.

"Nothing can keep me out of trouble. Sir." Sirius told him with pride in his voice.

"It would seem so, but don't think that means we will not try."

"Even better, it's more fun when you try and stop it." James said joining in the conversation easily. Dumbledore turned and began to walk away with a smile on his face. He turned around for a moment and gave them a few parting words.

"I changed the password by the way, have fun boys." He told them before turning a corner bringing him out of sight.

"Darn it!" Sirius said loudly. He glared at the gargoyle. "The old man's good I'll give him that."

"What do we do now?" Remus asked knowing that without the password they would never be able to get in.

"I'm not giving up. I'm not going to let some old geezer get the best of me." Sirius told them, it was easy to tell that Sirius had taken Dumbledore words as a challenge. Sirius never was one to back down from a challenge.

"How in the world are you going to figure out the new password?" James said hoping they could just skip this and just go back to the dorm. He didn't feel like guessing a thousand passwords for no reason whatsoever.

"He would leave some kind of clue." Sirius told him pacing, a habit he seemed to have accidentally copied off James.

"What makes you think that?"

"I could tell from his voice, he wants us to get in there."

"Then why did he change the password on us." Remus tried to figure out what in the world goes on in the mind of Sirius Black.

"Because he likes to play games with people. Maybe it was something he said to us." He said looking at Remus. Remus sighed.

"Well what was the previous password." Remus asked knowing Sirius would stand there till someone figured it out.

"Jujubes."

"Sirius we are never going to figure this out, he makes up random words for the password, there's no way." James complained, he was sure there was absolutely no way to outsmart Dumbledore.

"Jujubes isn't made up." Remus told James looking kind of confused.

"What do you mean it's not made up? Then what is it?" James said, he was almost sure that Remus had no idea what he was talking about, the only thing that kept him from being sure is that Remus had a much larger vocabulary then him.

"It's a candy." he said as though it was obvious.

"Candy?" Sirius asked not recognizing the name.

"You guys don't know that?" they both shook their heads.

"Remus, I get candy a lot and there has never been something called Jujubes on any of the shelves."

"We must have went to different stores then."

"It's probably a muggle candy." Peter told them. "They have different candy than us."

"That's weird." James complained

"Not when you think about it. Most of our candy moves or does weird stuff to you." Sirius said after a little thought. "Muggles can't have that kind of stuff."

"Oh right, I forgot."

"So the last one was a muggle candy then, does that mean this one is too?" Sirius asked glaring at the gargoyle again.

"I think that if it isn't we might as well give up." Remus said thinking though a list of candies he knew of.

"Pop rocks." Sirius whispered.

"What?"

"That's it! Dumbledore mentioned something about pop rocks." Remus thought about it for a second.

"You're right he did, but how did you know that pop rocks were a muggle candy?"

"I heard about them once from my Mother. She was complaining that muggles were trying to figure out how to use magic and those were the product. Apparently they explode in your mouth or something."

"Ouch."

"They don't really explode, they just pop. It doesn't hurt or anything, and it doesn't have anything to do with magic." Remus explained."You guys should really try them, you'd like it"

"If you say so, back to what we're doing here in the first place." Sirius said and stood in front of the gargoyle statue.

"Pop Rocks." He said the password to the statue and it moved out of the way revealing a moving spiral staircase.

"Yes!" all four of them cheered and walked onto the staircase as it moved taking them up to Dumbledore's office. Sirius made a note of it on the map, even drawing a rough sketch of it. They weren't surprised to find Dumbledore's office exactly the same way it was every other time they had come in it. It was like Dumbledore never touched anything. Sirius added as much detail as possible to the map, while James, Remus, and Peter just had to try to keep from knocking everything over as they moved around the room. When they were done they couldn't help but stop and stare at their Map. It was done, it was finally done. They put so much effort into this map. They had been working on it all year, and it was finally done!

"Let's go back to the dorm." Remus said trying his hardest not to scream in excitement.

"Right." James agreed doing the same.

"Wait, I want to leave a note for Dumbledore." Sirius said excitedly and ran over to the desk grabbed a spare bit of parchment and wrote a note on it. James came over to read it out loud.

'We win. Thanks for letting us use your office for the moment.'

'S, J, R, P'

"That alright with you guys?" He asked

"Why did you use our initials?" Peter asked in response.

"Because Sirius, James, Remus, And Peter takes too long to write." Sirius told him before heading out the door. They followed as Sirius ran back to the Gryffindor tower, yelling in joy every once in a while. They went straight into their dorm, not caring that people were looking at them strangely.

"We did it!" Sirius yelled when they were all in their dorm. He hugged James. "We did it!"

It took them a very long time to calm down. Their map was done, and now they they were going to be able to see the look of surprise on McGonagall's face. It was torture waiting until Monday to show her, but it was well worth it.

* * *

A/N) Yay the Map is done, for now anyway.

Thanks for all the prank ideas. I plan on using most of them.


	31. McGonagall and the Map

Chapter 31

McGonagall and the Map

Luck was on the Marauders side, Transfiguration was their first class Monday morning. Sirius had a special plan for revealing the map, he was going to wait until the lesson was almost done. Then before she could give them any homework they would show her, she'd be ogling over it until class was over and WAM no homework for the night. Remus swore up and down it wouldn't work but Sirius insisted.

It would have worked, if the Marauders hadn't been so exited. None of them could keep still. James shifted in his seat constantly, Remus kept clearing his throat out of nervousness, Peter was swaying, and Sirius though he was trying so hard could hardly keep from screaming and running up to McGonagall's desk. After twenty minutes McGonagall was getting fed up with all four of them. She managed to hold though, at least until James fell flat out of his seat, causing the entire class to start laughing.

"That's it! If you boys don't give a very good explanation of your behavior I'll have to carry a few detentions on to next year, since if I remember you're completely booked with them already!" She hissed.

"But we have a good reason, Professor!" James complained.

"Ya, we have a real good reason, but we didn't want to interrupt you during class." Sirius lied. Remus rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.

"It had better be a darn good one that can't wait, because if you are interrupting my class for no reason..." She threatened before James interrupted.

"We finished it ma'am." He said and all the Marauders instantly straightened up and stopped fidgeting.

"Finished what?" Sirius jumped up and ran over to her, she was a little surprised when Remus followed, though not that James or Peter followed.

"This!" He told her and all four of them held onto it while they gave it to her.

"What is this?" She said with astonishment, and most of the class stood to get a look at it.

"We win," James said with pride in his eyes.

"We told you we could do it." Sirius continued.

"It took all year." Remus went on.

"But we did it." Peter finished.

McGonagall was speechless. These boys were miracle workers, the four of them, the four eleven year old boys had made an entire map of the school in one school year, and still had time to ace all their classes and make the teacher's go crazy due to their pranks.

"How.." Was all she managed, she flipped though the pages of the map, everyone of them contained a part of the castle. She was able to easily find any classroom in the entire school, the kitchens and Dumbledore's office were even labeled. How in the world had they managed to find the kitchens, let alone get passed Dumbledore to get into his office. It was impossible, but here she was holding the product of that impossibility.

"It was really hard." James said filled with more pride then he could stand, he wanted to run around screaming at the top of his lungs, but he forced himself to stay still.

"It's amazing." The Marauders just nodded, Sirius looked like it was taking everything he had to keep from jumping on one of the desks and singing. "How in the world did you get into Dumbledore's office?"

"That is for us to know..." James said with a look of mischief in his eyes.

"And for you to never find out." Sirius finished with the exact same look.

McGonagall didn't respond, after another few moments of looking at the Map, she sighed and handed it back to them. "I suppose then a congratulations is in order, and I suppose the four of you have managed to show me up once again." She said humbly though she did look quite proud of them as well. "I do have one question though, boys."

"Yes, Professor." Remus answered looking up from their Map.

"How in the world did you boys manage to find the time to not only finish this impossible task, but to also pass all your classes with flying colors and break most of the detentions records of the entire school, in just one year?"

The Marauders stared at them for a moment. Sirius got excited. "Did we really?" McGonagall sighed at his reaction but nodded anyway. "YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!" That was all the Marauders could take. They were jumping up and down with excitement. To McGonagall's surprise even Remus was excited by this, he even went as far as jumping on James' shoulders and letting the stronger boy give him a piggy-back ride. McGonagall shook her head in amusement and went to her desk, got out her grade book and gave them all an extra 100 points. Everyone of them now had O's James was actually now passing with a 199% with 100 being an O.

Most of the other first years were just watching the Marauder's celebration, a few of them, such as Lilly Evans was looking with annoyance, while others such as Frank Longbottem looked like they wanted to join in. She watched the boys celebrate for a while before she remembered that she was supposed to be teaching a class.

"As excited as I'm sure you boys are, you are still in the middle of class. I want everyone back..." She began but was interrupted by a loud ringing sound that singled the end of class. She smacked her face into her palm. She could distinctly hear James' and Sirius' laughs. "You knew this would distract me didn't you."

"What ever do you mean Professor? " James said innocently. Remus laughed.

"In case you have forgotten ma'am we were going to wait till after class. You are the one who demanded to know." He told her, not registering at all that he was teasing a teacher.

"Just leave."She said and they ran out of the room, unable to contain their energy.

McGonagall laughed and shook her head, those boys were something else. Sometimes she wished she had even an ounce of the courage they have, when she was their age. Though she still wished she could push them off to one of the other Head of Houses.


	32. Last Prank of First Year

Chapter 32

Last Prank of First Year

"The year is almost over guys." Sirius sounded as though he was announcing a funeral.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad, Sirius." Remus responded knowing it wouldn't help cheer the boy up.

"Maybe not for you." Sirius mumbled half hoping Remus wouldn't hear him, of course Remus did, but decided to ignore it for everyone in the room's sake.

"When are you guys going to start packing?" Peter asked as though he couldn't start until they did. Sirius moaned.

"We still have a whole day. Don't rush it."

"Sirius I know you're going to be miserable all summer, but wasting the last few days of school by being bummed is a really bad idea. You should at least try and enjoy your last few days of freedom." James walked over and sat on Sirius' bed beside where he was lying.

"I know, but I can't help it."

"I know what you need." James smiled. Remus knew exactly what James was thinking about just by looking in his eyes. That look always meant that some poor soul would be crying by the end of the day, or in some cases maybe it just meant that everyone would be laughing their heads off. Right now Remus was hoping for the latter he didn't want a detention to be carried over the summer. Sirius and Peter easily caught on to what James was suggesting.

"What do you have in mind, fellow Marauder." Sirius quickly got a similar look.

James looked under his bed for something for a while and when he found it he stood up and walked back to Sirius. "I got these from my mom for my birthday a few weeks ago. The inventor is a family friend of ours and gave her a pack for free before he sold them to the public. What do you think we can do with them?" Sirius took the small rectangular box, he looked at it, reading the words on the outside of the box, and thinking, before he got a wonderfully, evil smile on his face.

"Let's finish the year with a bang. Shall we?" He said before getting up to leave the room. James shrugged to the other two and all three of them followed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Half an hour later found the Marauders in the library. Calling them excited would be an understatement. Once Sirius had told them the plan, they quickly got to work.

"I found it!" Remus shouted excitedly before looking around to make sure the librarian wasn't around to hear his outburst.

"Yes! What is it?" Sirius looked over his shoulder to read the page he was looking at.

"Geminio, the duplicates aren't quite as good as the original but if we do it enough times it won't matter." Remus told them, looking at the duplicate spell in the book.

"Perfect, having them not as strong will make sure no one gets hurt." Sirius said before pausing. "Um.. Wait aren't I saying your line and you saying mine."

Remus reddened a little. "I was thinking that exact same thing." Sirius chuckled and James smirked.

"Wow Remmy, you're turning out to be quite the bad kid." Remus blushed.

"Stop teasing me and let's get on with it." Sirius laughed and messed with Remus' hair, who ducked away from Sirius' hand and began running out the door bringing the book with him. Sirius, James, and Peter followed him back to the dorm.

When they got back to the dorm they tried out the new spell on a few random objects, it wasn't a hard spell so it didn't take long.

"When are we going to do it?" Peter asked practically bouncing with excitement, this was going to be a good one.

"Obviously the end of the year feast, when else would we do it?" Sirius said bouncing on his bed. James smacked Sirius upside the head for being mean to Peter, of course Sirius had to retaliate causing them to start another wrestling match.

"Is the end of the year feast tonight or tomorrow?" Peter asked Remus ignoring the two boys rolling around on the floor.

"Tonight, then we finish packing, sleep, and try to get up early enough to eat breakfast before getting on the train back." Remus said also ignoring Sirius and James. Peter laid back in bed.

"This is going to rock." He said quietly.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The Marauders were sitting in the great hall waiting for the end of the year feast to begin. They could barely sit still. They had done the usual and stolen some paint from Flitwick who they were sure was starting to notice, as he kept it locked up this time. They decided over the break they needed to find a way to do it without paint, it became a personal homework assignment. Everything was ready, and it would start as soon as everyone began eating. They tuned when Dumbledore stood to speak.

"Well, it is time at last to say goodbye." Dumbledore said when the room quieted down. "There are, of course, a few things that must be said before we begin. First of all we must say goodbye to our elder students as they will not be returning to us again next year. Goodbye and we wish you well as you move on to better things." Dumbledore raised his glass as a toast to the seventh years.

"I feel bad for them, the fun has only just begun." James whispered to Sirius, referring to the fact that they only had one year with the Marauders in the building. Sirius laughed, nodding in agreement.

"And next." Dumbledore continued. "I would like to thank you all, for such a wonderful first year as Headmaster at Hogwarts." To his surprise the entire school, minus most of the Slytherins of course, exploded with applause. "Thank you thank you." He said quieting them. "Next I would like to inform you that the results of your exams, N.E. or O. will be given out by your Head of House in the morning and it will be your responsibility to contact them.

"Now that all the boring news is over I believe it is time to announce the winner of the House Cup." The school eagerly awaited the news. The Marauders cheered for Gryffindor to win with quite a few of the others, they had lost a lot of house points for Gryffindor, but always made it a priority to earn them back plus some. If Gryffindor lost it wouldn't be their fault. The only ones they were worried about beating was Hufflepuff. The boost they got from winning the Quidditch cup might have put them in the lead.

"The winners of the the House Cup is..." Dumbledore paused for effect, then clapped loudly and the entire Great Hall turned yellow and black. "Hufflepuff!" Sirius winced and James sighed.

"Oh well, they were really good fliers." James said.

"James you know there is more to winning the House Cup then playing a good Quidditch game, right?" Remus asked amused.

"Ya, but it sure helps." He answered.

"Congratulations Hufflepuff." Dumbledore said though the cheers coming from the house table. "Now I do think it is high time that this old man stopped boring everyone and we begin the feast don't you." Sirius chuckled and nodded to the Marauders and they responded likewise.

**Oh no, do please go on!**

The words appeared on the wall. To the Marauders delight many people looked around fearfully and pushed any food around them as far away as possible, knowing something was going to happen.

**We felt the need to congradulate the students ourselves, of course. And we truly feel sorry foor those poor souls who will not be coming back next year! I hear it's going to be a real... **

Sirius paused and wiped the paint off the wall. He did a count down under the table for James. Who sat by Sirius instead of Peter for once.

**Smash!**

Suddenly the entire room exploded. The students jumped off their seats but the explosions were coming from the floor its self. They couldn't get away from it, even the teachers were trying to get away, Sirius laughed evilly when he saw Professor Slughorn running out the staff, not bothering to attempt to control the explosions like the other teachers were. Most of the students began running for the doors which to their surprise were locked, many of them headed to the staff door which Slughorn had proved was not. The Marauders followed the crowd as not to arouse suspicion. When out of the Great Hall they found that if they stood close to the door it was loud enough that they could talk with out being overheard but quiet enough that they could hear each other.

"What were those things called again?" Sirius asked talking a little louder than normal.

"They were Exploding Snap Cards." James answered referring to the box, or more specifically what was inside the box that they had duplicated multiple time and spread across the floor of the Great hall, using a spell they had found in the same book as the duplicating spell to make them unable to be seen, though not invisible.

"Well tell your friend that Sirius Black want's to buy as many boxes as he can get his hands on!"

* * *

AN) I've been waiting to use the exploding snap cards in a prank. I hope it wasn't too unrealistic.

Thanks for the reviews I may upload really soon or I may wait a while, it just depends on how far ahead I am.


	33. The Trip 'Home'

Chapter 33

The Trip 'Home'

"I don't wanna get on the train!" Sirius whined loudly receiving odd looks from the people around him.

"I know Si, but you have to. They would never let you stay here over the summer, I don't even think they stay here over the summer." James said putting his arm around his best friend's shoulders.

"They don't. Professor Flitwick made me help him pack for detention. He wasn't tall enough to reach some of his things that some people stuck on the top of his bookshelf." Remus heavily emphasized the word some. "I don't possibly know who did it though. Sirius!" He glared at the culprit in question.

"How did you know it was me? I did that weeks before your detention with Flitwick."

"I just know Sirius, I just know." Remus teased knowing how it would kill Sirius to not know how he figured it out.

They found a compartment on the train together near the back. Sirius to their surprise peeked into the last compartment and waved at the occupant. James peeked over his shoulder just before Sirius closed the door. James had a confused look on his face.

"That was a Black." James observed when they went back to their compartment. Sirius just nodded. "I thought they all hated you."

"Andy isn't so bad. She doesn't mind that I'm a blood traitor now. She was the one I went to after I first talked to you. She helped me sort out my priorities and made me realize my family is a whole bunch of dunderheads."

"You never mentioned her." Remus said remembering the Black that had thanked him when he sat beside Sirius just after he had been sorted.

"She didn't want me to. Just because she helped me become one doesn't mean she wants to be a blood traitor also. She is still very loyal. It was for her own protection." Sirius explained. James and Remus nodded.

Sirius spent most of the train ride in silence staring out the window. Every once in awhile James or Remus would try to get him involved in their conversation, but they didn't push him into talking. Half way though the train ride they found out Snape and Evans were in the compartment in front of them, so James got Sirius to cheer up for a while by charming Snape's trunk to randomly open spilling all it's contents on the floor every five to ten minutes. James was sort of celebrating his last few hours of being able to use magic, while Sirius just wanted to take his anger out on something, he knew his mom wouldn't care if he used magic at home, so he wasn't going to bother with trying to not use it.

By the time they got back to Platform 9 ¾ Sirius was depressed again, and knew he would be for a very long time. He walked off the train wondering whether his mother would try to publicly humiliate him or if she would wait till they were at home till she started yelling at him. What he didn't expect was that she just plain wouldn't show up. He looked around but couldn't find her anywhere. What would he do if she didn't show? There was no way he could walk home from here, maybe James' parents would give him a ride or something. He stayed with James as James looked for his parents, not noticing that Remus and Peter were doing the same.

"I don't see your mom anywhere, Si." James said voicing Sirius' thoughts out loud.

"Me neither." James was about to continue the conversation when he caught sight of his own parents.

"Awesome, come on I'll introduce you to my mom since she won't be able to see you." James said excitedly dragging Sirius though the crowd, Remus and Peter followed, Peter knew that his parents would more than likely be with the Potters and Remus just plain had no idea how to find his parents. Lucky the Lupins had managed to find James' parents before the train arrived so they were all together (Their parents met on Christmas break.)

"Mum, Dad!" Remus ran up to them an hugged them both at the same time.

"Remus." They said happily, Sirius watched with envy at the reunion. James' voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Mom, Dad, I want you to meet my best friend." James pushed Sirius closer to his parents, who looked at him in surprise. "Sirius these are my parents and vice versa." Sirius shrugged out of James' hold on his shoulders and bowed.

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Potter." He told them before standing back up. James was looking at him in shock. "What?"

"Since when were you polite?" Sirius growled and punched James in the shoulder.

"Very funny Jamesy-poo." James face turned beet red.

"Stop calling me that!" He yelled and Remus laughed. Remus' mom walked over to Sirius.

"It is so nice to finally meet you, Sirius." Hope Lupin said shaking his hand. Sirius blushed.

"Same." He replied, he was rather nervous. It was his first time talking to a muggle, despite living in a town full of them.

When she let go Remus' father shook his hand as well. When all the introduction were over Sirius noticed there weren't very many people left, and easily found out why he couldn't find his mother.

"Figures." he said harshly causing the Marauders to look at him and then follow his gaze. They were surprised at what they saw. "She wouldn't even come and get me herself, she had to send the house-elf." Sirius rolled his eyes and turned his gaze from Kreacher.

Their parents seemed surprised to see the house-elf there and confused by what Sirius had said.

"Are you leaving then?" Remus asked, looking as though he was worried he wouldn't see Sirius ever again.

"I probably should, if I wait any longer she'll yell at me for being late or something." Sirius said and turned the Remus', Peter's, and James' parents. "It was a pleasure meeting all of you, but I must go now." He told them and bowed again before walking over to the house-elf.

"Sirius wait!" James called. Sirius stopped and turned around before Kreacher could apparate him back home. "You've got the mirror. Right?" He asked and Sirius smirked, and pulled a small mirror from his pocket and showed it to James. James responded by doing the same. "See you next year!" Sirius nodded before grabbing the house-elf and disappearing.

James moaned and Remus sighed. "He'll be fine, James. She isn't going to kill him." Remus' parents looked at him in shock.

"Did you even hear those howlers she sent him! She certainly sounded ready to kill to me."

"James what are you talking about? Is Sirius in danger?" Charles Potter asked, half-excited that he may actually finally have a reason the throw the Blacks in Azkaban.

"Sirius was positive that they wouldn't actually hurt him. James is just over reacting." Remus said calmly, even though inside he was just as worried as James was. "And if they do hurt him, you know he would tell you, James." James just looked at the ground.

"How do you know that? You know how proud he is!" James sounded like he was about to break.

"Proud, yes. Stupid, no." Remus told James. "Trust me James he isn't going to just sit there and let them beat them up. He'll be fine." James looked at Remus trying desperately to believe him.

"Ask him yourself then." Peter suggested pointing to the mirror that was still in his pocket.

"Not now though, you'll only get him in trouble." Remus told him wisely. James nodded and put the mirror back in his pocket.

"Are you ready to go home, James." James' dad asked knowing that staying here wasn't going to help his son feel any better, James just nodded. Remus hugged him.

"He'll be fine, Sirius is strong." Remus whispered in his ear before letting go and hugging Peter as well. James nodded, looking a little better. He knew Sirius was strong, he was just worried he wasn't strong enough. He followed his parents out of the train station and waved to Remus again.

"See ya later Remus!" He yelled and Remus smirked.

"Mischief Managed!" He yelled back. James was still laughing when his parents apparated him back home.

* * *

A/N) Edit (8/5/2013) I am in the process of changing the Lupin's names, due to recent cannon information. If you see anywhere where their names are Hannah or John please review or PM me so that I can change it. Rowling has confirmed (via pottermore) that their names are Hope and Lyall... Yeah, Lyall Lupin. Well what Rowling says goes.


	34. Regulus

Chapter 34

Regulus

James couldn't wait any longer than a few hours to contact Sirius. He was so worried he hardly even ate dinner, though he hadn't eaten much all day. It was nine o'clock and he was praying Sirius wasn't already asleep.

"Sirius" He said into the mirror.

"Hey James. Perfect timing mate, I was about to call you." He saw Sirius' face in the mirror, and sighed in relief when it showed no signs of abuse.

"You alright?" He asked just to make sure. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Please tell me you aren't actually worried. I told you all she was going to do was yell at me. Oh and she made me skip dinner but that's not that bad, I ate enough on the train to make up for that."

"She isn't going to starve you is she?"

"James will you stop worrying, I'll be fine. She isn't going to do anything to me that she hasn't done before. I know how she is, all bark and no bite." He smirked at the dog reference, hoping to make James laugh. It worked, of course.

"Alright, I believe you. Just promise me that if she does you'll tell me." Sirius rolled his eyes again.

"She won't."

"Humor me." Sirius sighed.

"I promise if she causes me any physical pain whatsoever you will know about it the second I can get to my half of the mirror. Happy?"

"Yes, very much. Thank you." James smiled at him.

"Never thought you'd turn out to be a worry wort." He teased trying to change the subject. He laid on his bed and rolled over on his stomach.

"I'm not, I just want to make sure you're okay. You were acting weird on the train, it freaked me out." James said unable to look in Sirius' eyes, even if it was just though a mirror. "I've never seen you like that before. Usually when you're upset you just try even harder to make yourself and everyone else happy, on the train you just looked dead." Sirius gave an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. I'm just not looking forward to spending an entire summer trapped in my room." He told James, then sighed when James started to look worried again. "She isn't going to lock me in my room all summer, James. I'll probably lock myself in here to stay away from them." James calmed down and nodded.

"I wish you could come over here." he said and Sirius laughed humorlessly.

"Wouldn't my mother just love that." Sirius jumped when he heard someone coming up the stairs. "I gotta go." He said quietly before stuffing the mirror in his pocket. He got up and pretending to be unpacking. He looked up from his trunk when Regulus opened the door.

"Sirius." Sirius stood up, instantly noticing that Regulus wasn't using his nickname. That wasn't a good sign at all.

"Reg." He said, curious to how he would react. He just ignored it and walked into the room.

"Do you want me to tell Kreacher to help you unpack?" He asked pointing to the still full trunk. Sirius didn't answer immediately, he was trying to read Regulus' body language, but it wasn't saying anything good. Regulus refused to look him in the eye, and stopped just inside the doorway. But he was offering help, even if he wasn't offering to do it himself, that was a somewhat good sign.

"He'd probably just steal my stuff." He said for an answer. Kreacher had a bad habit of stealing his master's things, or Sirius' and Regulus' anyway. He never swiped anything from the adults, causing their mother to think that they were lying when they tried to complain about it.

Regulus nodded still not looking at Sirius.

"Are you mad at me, Reg?" Sirius asked not being able to take not knowing any longer. Regulus was silent, he hadn't quite decided yet.

"You made Mom sad." He accused.

"I apologized."

"You're not sorry." Sirius winced.

"Yes I am, I swear it."

"You won't stop."

"You're right." He said, it was his turn to avoid eye contact. "I'm not sorry for what I did."

"You just said.."

"I'm sorry it hurt you guys. I'm sorry I had to do it. I'm sorry I made Mother sad. I'm not sorry I did it. I still love you guys, I just don't believe the same way you do. Will you shun me for it?"

"You're hurting her and not even willing to do anything to stop it." Sirius could tell, that he was not going to forgive him.

"If me doing the right thing hurts her that is something she needs to deal with, not me." He said not once expecting him to understand. His mother probably spent the entire year trying to make sure Regulus wouldn't turn out like his brother.

"How can anything that hurts your family be the right thing?" He said almost glaring at Sirius.

"What if what Mother is teaching us is wrong? What if it is something that could get people killed? You know as well as I do, that a war is coming. It's coming because people like us won't even consider the possibility that we are wrong, and we are wrong Reg. This entire purebloods only thing is wrong."

"The 'what ifs' don't matter Sirius! What matters is you've betrayed your family and you don't even care!" Regulus yelled, surprising Sirius. Regulus wasn't one to let his temper get so out of control that he had to express it. He took after their father, while Sirius took after their mother.

"You think I don't care! Are you mad, of course I care! Do you have any idea how hard it was to make this decision! But I did anyway, because I'm going to do what's right, no matter what anyone says!"

"So that's it then. There's nothing I can do to change your mind?" Regulus said quietly, looking for the first time into Sirius' eyes.

"It doesn't have to be like that Reg, and you know it. Mother will calm down, she always does. I'll try to be good, if you need me to, but don't do this." Sirius was practically begging by now.

"I don't really think you've given me a choice, Sirius." He said before walking out of the room.

Sirius just stood there, trying to figure out what to do next. He felt like he should be crying, but the tears wouldn't come. He stood there feeling numb. Regulus had been his only hope of having a family again. Maybe there was still a way. Sirius ran towards the door, but didn't open it. He stared down at the floor, who was he kidding anyway. Had he really been stupid enough to believe that Regulus would forgive him, especially when he could barely forgive himself. Maybe Regulus was right, maybe it was wrong to put your beliefs over family loyalty.

He was surprised when he felt something in his pocket get warm and begin softly vibrating. He pulled it out and looked at James.

"Sirius? Are you alright, you look really pale." James asked, it took a little while for Sirius to find his voice, causing James to worry even more.

"James." He said after a while. "Remind me that I did the right thing." He begged.

James was surprised by what Sirius said, as far as James knew Sirius had never once doubted his decision before. James smiled reassuringly.

"You did the right thing, Sirius." James told him sitting on his bed. "Don't let them get you down, Si. Remember only two and a half months till we are back to school, where everything actually makes since."

Sirius nodded and closed his eyes. "I think I should get some sleep" he said quietly.

"That's probably a good idea, hey I get to sleep in tomorrow. Awesome." James said excitedly. Sirius laughed, though it sounded rather hollow.

"Night James."

"Night Sirius." James put the mirror on the stand beside his bed next to an empty cup. He was hoping that if Sirius needed to contact him in the middle of the night, the mirror would vibrate enough to knock over the cup and wake him up. He climbed into bed, and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

This was going to be a very long summer.

* * *

A/N) Aww poor Sirius. I would hate to have Regulus as a brother. My brother is so much cooler.


	35. Letters

Chapter 35

Letters

James sighed for probably the millionth time.

"James dear, I know how you're feeling but you just have to wait." Elizabeth Potter told him, trying to find a mix between being a parent and giving her son what ever he wanted.

"But Mom, if we wait too long they may be gone." He complained putting his head down on his arms, which were resting on their kitchen table.

"James I am not going all the way to Diagon Ally just to get you a broomstick that you don't need for another two months. Your old one works just fine."

"But Mom." He wined.

"Think of it this way son. If you wait, maybe they'll come out with an even better one that you can get instead." His father added to the conversation. James thought about this for a moment.

"True." He said and got up and went to his room for a while. He smirked, he really loved being spoiled and still somehow not a complete brat.

He considered calling Sirius, but Sirius warned him not to call a lot. If Sirius' mom found out that Sirius was talking to him, under her own roof, Sirius was positive she would flip, and almost positive that there would be more than just yelling to deal with. Which of course worried James to the point that he had told Sirius that he would rather Sirius just called him instead of the other way around. This of course caused Sirius to roll his eyes and change the subject.

He's only been out of school for two weeks, and James was already bored. He was starting to worry, was it natural to get bored during the summer? This must have been how Sirius felt during Christmas break.

"James, hon." He heard his mother call from the kitchen. "You have a letter from Remus."

"Okay Mom." He jogged out of the room and found an unfamiliar owl on the table. It was surprisingly the first time he had actually heard from Remus. This made him feel bad, he should have owled Remus a long time ago. He picked up the letter and was a little confused that it was in an envelope. His father gave him an amused look.

"I'm assuming his mother raised him a bit more than his father did." James gave him a confused look, before he understood that it must have something to do with muggles.

"Not really, his dad was trying to hide magic from his mom, because he forgot to tell her about it before they got married." His father burst out laughing and he could hear his mother giggling from behind a cabinet door.

"That wasn't the smartest idea." Charles said imagining what his wife's reaction would be to that. It wasn't looking pretty. James nodded and opened the letter. He sat down to attempt to decipher Remus' messy scrawl.

_Dear James,_

_Sorry I've been out of touch lately. I was going to send you a letter a while ago, but Dad said you more than likely didn't get 'muggle post', whitch to me seems really weird, but you probably have no idea what i'm talking about. He then took forver trying to describe to me how I could even consider contacting you. It was just really annoying. I was thinking that when I got home things would actually make sence, boy was I wrong. Dad's now trying to make up for hiding this stuff, by teachimg me everything he should have done while I was growing up. And he is trying to do it in one summer, needless to say, I'm not going to get a break from learning for a while._

_Sorry if I'm rambling, I'm not really used to having someone to talk to besides my parents, it's kinda weird. My parents got me this owl for my birthday. I've never had a pet before and I'm a little worried about keeping it alive, but I've done quite a bit of reasearch on them. They aren't really common pets, or not for us anyway. _

_I think my mum is finally started to forgive my dad for not telling her he's a wizard. She isn't making him clean the house, or glaring at him as much anyway. He still has to clean all the dishes by hand though, but I think that isn't ever going to change. She hates doing them and is enjoying not having to do it._

_By the way, how's Sirius doing? I haven't heard anything from him at all, it's making me worried. I know I was the one trying to convince you he was fine, but I guess I am not so sure myself. Do you think it's safe to send him a letter?_

_I've got to go, Romulus, (my owl) is looking at me like he is going to peck me to death if I don't hurry up. He isn't the most pachent postbird in the world it seems._

_I really hope he can find you house like the store lady promised, because I have no idea how he's going to do it._

_Remus Lupin_

James laughed, it was interesting seeing Remus get used to the real wizarding world. Things were a lot different at Hogwarts then they are outside of the school.

"How's he doing?" His mother asked, she had instantly liked Remus from the first time they met.

"He's fine, worried about Sirius, of course, but fine." He petted Romulus thinking about the strange name. He was a little surprised that it stayed, it must want to make sure Remus got a response. For being a new owl it was already very loyal, that was rather surprising, usually it took like a month before they cared enough to annoy the recipient until their owner got a letter back.

James went to his room and sat on his desk, not surprised that the owl followed. He got out a quill and a piece of parchment.

_Dear Remus,_

_Don't be sorry, It is just as much my fault that we haven't been in touch as yours, maybe more, as I already knew how to get a hold of you. I feel kind of bad for not writing. I don't know why I haven't, it's not like I've been busy, or anything. Oh well, I'm writing now guess that's what matters._

_First things first, don't write to Sirius, That would be really bad, if you need to (or even want to really, I don't mind) talk to him, you can send it to me and I can read it to him over the mirror and send you a response, _

_He is fine though, all she's done so far is yell, just like he said she would. The only problem is Sirius is getting a little discouraged, Regulus abandoned him too. He'd been hoping he would at least give him a chance, but Regulus is just mad at him. Poor guy, it would stink to loose a brother like that, but the past is the past, and I'm trying to help him move on. He's doing all right other than that. _

James looked up from his letter when his mom opened the door.

"Are you more hungry for spaghetti or Pork Chops?" She asked obviously trying to figure out what to make for dinner.

"Which one dose Dad want?"

"Pork Chops."

"Spaghetti then." She gave him an annoyed look.

"You're just trying to make things difficult aren't you." It wasn't a question though she worded it that way. He smirked and nodded. "You weren't this hard to deal with before you went to school."

"I know."

"You're not helping your chances of getting that broomstick any faster you know."

"But Mom!!!" He whined and she rolled her eyes.

"Tell Remus I said hi." She left the room, closing the door on her way out.

He laughed and returned to his letter.

_You know I think I'm starting to become more like Sirius. I'm purposefully annoying my mom. I've never done that before, I mean I'm just teasing of course, but still. It was just something I never did. I don't know, I think I'm just changing, I hope it's for the better. _

_Oh before I forget Mom wanted me to tell you she said hi. _

_I kinda feel bad for your dad. Doing dishes by hand would be the worst, but I guess muggles have to do it all the time huh. Poor muggles. I hope your mom at least lets him use magic after a while, it must be a lot faster that way. He probably deserves it though, lying to someone for twelve years about something that important is something deserving of harsh punishment if you as me, especially if that person is your wife._

_Happy Birthday! Sorry it's late, you've never told me when your birthday was so I hope it isn't too late. I'll have to buy you a candy bar or something for your present. Hehe, I like shopping for you, you're really easy to buy for. I like your present from your parents, he's a very good looking owl, and loyal too. He is siting here waiting for me to get done with this letter... Oh I know what you mean about staring at you murderously though, he's doing it to me too. I probably shouldn't have looked at him. I'm a little curious about the name choice though, What does Romulus mean?_

_And don't worry about him being able to find someone's house. Owls have their own type of magic, they can find it easily. All they need is a name. Usually first and last though, there are a lot of people with similar names though. If it was possible to owl Sirius you probably wouldn't need a last name though, not many people would name their kid after a dog star. The Blacks are just plain weird if you ask me._

_I should go, your owl looks like it's going to eat me. I would probably get him checked out if I were you. It is starting to seem like people are a part of his average diet._

_James Potter_

James laughed and rolled up the parchment, before tying it to the owls leg. It glared at him the entire time, as though it knew he had just insulted him.

"Don't look at me like that, you know it's true." He told it and carried it over to the window where it flew off. He laughed as he watched it.

"James, dinners ready!" He heard his mom yelling. James walked to the kitchen wondering whether his mom had had made spaghetti or pork chops. He was surprised when he got to the kitchen and saw she had made tomato soup. His dad smirked at him from behind the Daily Prophet.

"I thought you were making spaghetti." He teased while sitting down.

"You both are exactly the same." She accused refusing to comment further.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Two hours later found James in their library talking to Sirius. He left the mirror on a desk in the room while looking though the shelves, he didn't feel like holding it when he could hear Sirius just fine from where he was, especially when Sirius didn't feel like holding it either.

"Remus sent me a letter today." James said, choosing a random topic for conversation out of his head.

"Really. How's he been?"

"He's fine. Turns out he's the second oldest of our group."

"His birthdays soon?"

"Over with. He got an owl from his parents, that's how he was able to talk to me. You should see the thing Sirius. At first it makes you think it's a perfect little thing, but if you keep it waiting it starts glaring at you." James told him, causing Sirius to laugh. "I'm not kidding, it looked like it was going to eat me."

"I'd like to see that." He said still chuckling.

"Have you found a way to make it so we don't have to steal Professor Flitwick's paint for our pranks yet?" He asked stating the reason he was in their library in the first place.

"Not willing to leave my room long enough to look." He answered. "We won't have anything useable anyway. The only books we have are on black magic or how to torture someone. Maybe a few on the history of purebloods if I looked hard enough."

"Right, I forgot." He said, pulling out a book that seemed promising. "Remus asked me about you." He said returning to the subject of Remus' letter.

"He was worrying wasn't he."

"How'd you know?"

"He, unlike you, is obviously a worry wort. What did you tell him?"

"Just that you were fine, but depressed." He said flipping though the book.

"Of course, you just had to tell him I'm depressed. I'm not really all that depressed you know. Only once in a while."

"I'll believe that when pigs fly."

"Oh I can easily make Bella and Cissy fly. Don't tempt me." Sirius laughed.

"Huh?" James said causing Sirius to sigh.

"Bellatrix and Narcissa, my cousins." James busted out laughing.

"That was a good one, Si." He said after he calmed down.

"Thanks. If only I could do it without my mother finding out." He said obviously liking the idea of throwing them around.

"You sound like they've gotten on your nerves recently." He observed.

"They're staying the night."

"Oh, I feel bad for you. Bellatrix is going to be civil right? I mean last time we saw her she attacked you."

"Bella doesn't know how to be civil. She's tried to get a few shots at me, but Andy is keeping her from trying anything big."

"Andy is the one that likes you right, is that her real name? It is way to short to be a Black name." James asked causing Sirius to laugh.

"It's only two letters shorter than mine, but no it isn't just a nickname. Her full name is Andromeda."

"That's better." James laughed. "You're the exception." James said standing to put the book away. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss school." James laughed.

"I missed school the second I got on the train."

"Ya, but you have a reason. I just miss it because I'm bored."

"Bored? You mean you can't find anything at all to do?" Sirius sounded like he couldn't understand that.

"Ya, that's exactly what I mean.

"I live with Hitler's evil twin, and you're complaining that you're bored." He teased.

"Very funny, Si."

"Go prank someone or something. That's how I'm entertaining myself. Cissy is still trying to get the gum out of her hair." James could almost hear the smirk on his face. He sighed.

"Unfortunately I can't. It wouldn't really be all that funny if I did it."

"Why wouldn't it be funny?" He said obviously not able to understand a prank that wasn't funny.

"My parents are ninety years old. I wouldn't know of course, but I can't imagine pranking ninety year old's to be funny."

"Ninety? They're that old?" He said shocked.

"Dads ninety eight and Moms ninety five."

"Dang they waited a long time to have a kid." James laughed, he always got the same reaction when he told someone how old his parents were.

"Not on purpose, they meant to have me at a younger age. It just sorta happened. It's why they spoil me so much. I'm their little treasure." He said the last line rather mockingly as though he was tired of hearing about it.

"Dang, you know most people stop, you know, doing it long before that time." Sirius said. James turned green.

"Sirius! You do realize you're talking about my parents right?" He yelled feeling rather sick.

"Woops, sorry. Um... Time for a change of subject. Um.. Are you trying out for Quidditch next year?" Sirius couldn't have picked a better rabbit trail and he knew it. James' obsession with Quidditch was always a good distraction.

"Oh ya. I'm going for Chaser. Trying to convince Mom to get me a new broom, but she just keeps putting it off." James said forgetting completely about the previous subject.

"James you have two months till you need it, why are you so worried?"

"What if all the good ones get taken?"

"They restock their stores, James." Sirius said exasperatedly. "Man you are spoiled aren't you." James blushed.

"Are you going to try out?" James asked trying to drive the subject away from him.

"If I can get a broom. You know my mother isn't going to get me one. She snapped my old one in half sometime last year." James quietly moaned and held his face in his hands. "Maybe I'll sneak out and get one, I think I still have access to our Gringotts account."

"Thanks Sirius. Boy do I feel good. You need to start yelling at me or something when I start acting spoiled." Sirius laughed.

"Roger, captain." he joked.

"Oh! I've got it, when's your birthday?"

"August 20th." He answered curious as to why he cared.

"That's surprising, I could have sworn you were older then Peter." James said surprised at the date.

"You mean I'm not? So I'm the youngest then. Man that stinks." James laughed.

"Anyway, I'll get you a broom for your birthday. So we can try out together." He said knowing his parents wouldn't really care about buying two. They had enough money that it didn't matter.

"Oh that's right you weirdos actually celebrate the day that means you're another year closer to death, right I forgot." James rolled his eyes. "You don't have to do that, I'll just steal..."

"No you won't. You do and I'll break it and give you it anyway." Sirius laughed.

"Alright, alright. Geez, if you want to spend your money on me go ahead; I'm not complaining." He said laughing. "Don't bother spending a lot though, I don't need it. I'm good enough with out it." James rolled his eyes.

"Trust me we can afford it."

"Probably, isn't your family as rich as mine?"

"More than likely." James laughed. "To tell you the truth, I think my parents could afford to feed a third world country for quite a while." Sirius laughed.

"I know my parents could feed a third world country. They would have to, to be able to feed me for eleven years." They both laughed. "I've got to go, from the sounds coming out from the hall, Bellatrix is trying to break though Reg's door again, I want to see if he's finally going to hex her or not." James laughed.

"Alright Si. Talk to you later." James put the mirror back in his pocked and sighed before resuming his forgotten search though the library. It was times like this that he wished his parents had had a kid a bit younger. If he had a big brother he probably wouldn't be so bored right now, and he definitely wouldn't be feeling guilty for being so spoiled. He really needs to learn to stop complaining about stuff like that, especially with Sirius.

* * *

A/N) This was kind of a useless chapter, but I really like it. ^_^

I'll try to update a little faster, I've just been a little lazy lately.


	36. Summer

Chapter 36

Summer

Remus, to no ones surprise, was the one to find out how to fix their paint stealing problem. He found a spell in a book he had bought. It wrote the words with fire, which according to James, Sirius instantly loved. Another perk is that they didn't even have to use the spell on the wall, they could do it on thin air, making it look all the more scary looking, even though they weren't really trying to scare people anymore.

Remus managed to do that despite his transformations becoming worse since he came home. The wolf apparently had liked having the entire Shrieking Shack to himself, instead of being magically locked in the empty basement of his home. He didn't complain, though only because that lock was the only thing keeping his parents safe from himself.

Now was one of the few times he wished he could go back to Hogwarts early.

"Remus? Are you alright?" He heard his mother's voice calling quietly. He didn't answer, he couldn't answer. His mouth wouldn't move and the words wouldn't come out. He did manage a moan though. She sighed and lifted him off the floor.

"It's getting worse." She said sadly. While carrying him to his bed, which was right beside the entrance to the basement. "You said it wasn't as bad at Hogwarts." She didn't doubt what he told her, but it was confusing.

Remus opened his eyes when she laid him on the bed.

"I think it liked Hogwarts." He told her weakly. She sighed.

"I wish there was something I could do to make it better." She said beside him on the bed and gave him a potion his father had made for him before he left for work.

"You say that every month mum. I already know." He drank the potion. His mother worried way too much about him. He'd been doing this ten years now, she didn't need to keep babying him.

"I know, I'm sorry." I don't mean to be a pest." She said taking the cup from him. "Do you think it will get better when you get back?"

"I don't know. Probably."

"Then I suppose it is a good thing you're going back soon, then isn't it." She said sadly. Despite him feeling better at Hogwarts she couldn't bring herself to be happy he was leaving again.

"I promise I'll write you a lot." He said knowing exactly what was upsetting her. She smiled at him.

"I know you will."

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sirius was going crazy. He had never realized just how rare it was for it to just be him, Regulus, and his parents at their house, and every guest seemed to be willing to drop everything they were doing just to look at him as though he was scum.

It was usually just his cousins, Andy, Bella, and Cissy's family that was over, but also all of his aunts and uncles would be staying. Once the Malfoys even stayed over for a week. Talking with James though the mirror was the only thing that was keeping him mentally stable at the moment. Though Andy coming over didn't hurt much.

She kept Bella from being cruel, but that was as far as she was willing to go. She may agree with his morals, but she wouldn't go around telling everyone about it. Sirius was willing to bet that Bella and Cissy didn't even know that Andy didn't agree with them anymore. She still pretended she believed in the same things they did so that she wasn't an embarrassment. She thought Sirius was crazy for broadcasting it like he did, and wasn't afraid to tell him about it.

"What are you gaining from this Sirius?" She asked sitting on his bed. They were alone in the room. "What is to be gained by fighting them the way you do?"

"How many times are you going to ask me that?"

"Until you give me an answer that makes sense."

"I did."

"No you told me that is is what you felt was right. It doesn't make any sense. How can what is right make you so miserable, how is it right then?"

"It isn't making me miserable. They are! If they could just accept that I'm not like them then everything would be okay!"

"You know that isn't going to happen, Sirius."

"Why not? Why should I have to change for them?"

"What is wrong with living the way they do? Their rich, happy..."

"Don't even try to tell me their happy! I know what it feels like to be happy, and that isn't it!."

"Sirius, you'll never survive like this! They can, and will, ruin you if you keep this up. No respectable person will hire you if they tell them not to." Sirius didn't answer immediately, he was choosing his words carefully.

"I don't care..."

"Sirius!" She went to continue but he interrupted her.

"No listen to me. I don't care if I can't find a job. I could never live with myself if I ended up like them. I would hate myself forever."

"You would get used to it."

"No I wouldn't, I could never be happy."

"You're not happy now."

"Are you?" He paused. "Are you happy? How can you live with that secret? How do you sleep at night knowing that you are supporting future death eaters and murderers?"

Andromeda couldn't answer this. She remained silent until dinner, and went to bed early after dinner, in an obvious attempt to avoid him.

Sirius wasn't angry with her for hiding it, he could never be mad at the only family member who still cared about him. Even if he did think she was a coward.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

James felt really bad for the Hogwarts teachers. Over the summer he realized that it took a TON of patience. He didn't have near enough. The only reason he could keep it up was because Peter was his friend and he read somewhere that teaching was a great way to learn.

Him and Peter used their summer to practice new spells. Both defense spells and pranking spells, but mostly the former.

Peter took so long to learn them that their practice usually turned into a teaching session. Strangely enough he found that Sirius was a better teacher then him. One of the many times James got so frustrated that he had to take a break and this time he had used it to talk to Sirius. How he managed to convince Sirius to try and help Peter, he wasn't exactly sure. Peter was glad, James had slowly started to get a little mean. It wasn't his fault he was a slow learner.

James was a little surprised when he felt upset that Sirius was a better teacher than him. Which made him try harder in their practice/teaching sessions. Peter easily noticed and was easily able to figure out why. He didn't mind though, even if James was doing the fighting he was the one getting the reward.

"You're not pronouncing it right, Peter. Remember how I told you to say it." James said even though he had said it four times already.

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize, just try again." James told him, feeling like a broken record.

Peter tried again, the only thing that happened though was that the box he was practicing on, James wouldn't let Peter practice on him until he was absolutely sure it was safe, wiggled and had a dent in it. James sighed, though he couldn't deny it was an improvement. At least the box was semi-damaged, though the spell was supposed to flatten the box. On a person it would, if done correctly, pull them to the ground and keep them there until either the counter curse was performed or the caster was fifty feet away.

"Better." He said attempting to make it sound sincere. Peter didn't look convinced. "Try again."

"Okay." He replied and lifted his wand to begin again, but was surprised when James stood and snatched his wand. "Wha?"

The door opened and James hid Peters wand behind his back. "Hi Mom." He said looking very nonchalant. He had also been practicing his acting skill. He was getting much better.

"Dinner is ready sweety." She told them happily. James nodded, secretly tossed Peter's wand under the bed, and walked out the door. Peter followed.

Even though he was majorly spoiled, and a pureblood he still wasn't technically allowed to use magic out side of school. It was extremely annoying.

As they followed his mom down to dinner they both thought about how they couldn't wait to go back to school.


	37. Glad to go to School?

Chapter 37

Glad to go to School?

Sirius wanted to scream for joy when the walked in Kings Cross Station, September first. He waited until they got to platform 9 ¾ and his mother left before he did though. He had actually expected his mother to stay and see Regulus off, or even just long enough to remind Regulus, that he was not to follow in Sirius' footsteps. She didn't though, she only stayed long enough to hug his eleven year old brother good bye then booked it.

Regulus didn't look surprised when he screamed, and they had gotten there early enough that there was hardly anyone there, so no one stared at him.

They walked to the train. "Cissy and the others will be sitting up front." He told Regulus, remembering that Narcissa had decided to transfer to Hogwarts for her last two years. He had to resist rolling his eyes at the thought of her transfer. He was sure that the only reason she had decided to do it was because she was dating Malfoy. No matter how she denied it.

He distracted himself by continuing talking to Regulus.

"My friends and I sit near the back. You can sit where ever you want." He said knowing what his brother would choose. He had a bit of false hope when Regulus paused for a moment before turning towards the front of the train. Sirius stared at the ground.

Just because he had expected Regulus to choose them, doesn't mean it didn't still hurt. He slowly followed Regulus and saw him struggling to put his trunk away.

Regulus nearly jumped in surprise when Sirius helped him. He hadn't expected Sirius to follow him.

When his trunk was away Sirius moved to the doorway. Regulus watched him, not completely turning to face him.

"If you need..."

"I don't need your help. I'm not a baby, I can take care of my self." He interrupted rudely. Sirius moved his gaze to the floor.

"Right I keep forgetting..."

"Well don't." Sirius suppressed a wince and sighed.

"Right, um... I guess I'll go now." Regulus watched him turn to go out the door. "I'll miss you." He added.

"I won't." He lied.

Sirius pretended he didn't hear him, or he acted like he did. As he walked to the back of the train he couldn't get Regulus' words out of his head.

**I don't need your help!**

When he walked into the compartment his mother's voice joined Regulus'.

_I should have known you were completely worthless._

He maned and sat with his hands holding his head, not even bothering to put his trunk away.

_Befriending half-bloods and mudblood lovers._

**I can take care of my self!**

_You've brought shame upon your ancestors!_

**I don't really think you've given me a choice, Sirius.**

_How could I give birth to such filth!_

**You've betrayed you're family and you don't even care!**

_**Blood traitor. **_

The name repeated in his head over and over again.

_**Blood traitor! **_

_**Blood traitor!**_

_**Sirius! **_

_**Blood traitor!**_

_**Sirius!**_

_**Blood traitor!**_

"Sirius!" Sirius jumped when he realized one of the voices weren't in his head. He looked up, and Remus looked at him with concern. "I called your name three times. Are you okay? You look rather um... dead actually." Sirius just stared at him for a moment before shaking his head.

"No I'm alright." He said hoping it wasn't a lie. "I just zoned out for a minute." He stood and helped Remus with his trunk. Who in turn helped him with his.

They sat down when they were done. "You're one to talk about looking dead." Sirius said when he finally got a good look at Remus. "You look like you're about ready to drop." Remus turned away.

"I'm fine, I just recently got over the flu." He lied. He forgot how much he hated lying to Sirius. It just felt wrong. Sirius was the first real friend he had ever had. He shouldn't be lying to him, but if he didn't, Sirius would be sure to tell James and Peter and then he would loose all of his friends. Remus knew he would not be able to handle loosing his friends.

"Oh ya, I know how that feels." Sirius replied to Remus' lie. He obviously completely believed Remus, making Remus feel even worse about the lie. He changed the subject.

"So how was your summer?"

"Crappy. Yours?" Sirius smirked trying to hide just how bad it was.

"Better than yours apparently." He smiled jokingly.

"More than likely."

"Did you get your homework done?" Sirius chuckled. Trust Remus to use the topic of school work like most people used the topic of weather, just for something to talk about. Sirius nodded anyway. "Really? I was expecting to have to make you do it."

"I had a lot of free time while locked in my room all summer."

"Oh, right." Remus said offhandedly.

The head a racket coming from outside of the door. Sirius went to open it, but when his hand got to the handle the door flung open and he was knocked to the ground. Remus jumped and stood on the seat not wanting to get hit by someone. The door slammed shut and James was holding on the handle to keep it shut. They heard yelling from the other side.

"Potter! I'm going to kill you!" It was a male voice that Sirius easily recognized.

"Snivellus?" Sirius asked James, while pushing Peter off of him.

"All I did was give him the chance to finally wash that greasy hair of his, and he blows up!" James said as though he really didn't understand.

"What did you dump on him?" Sirius asked hexing the door shut so James could sit down.

"Thanks." James sat across from Remus who had finally decided it was safe to sit. "A bucket full of toad snot. I heard it was good for your hair." Sirius burst out laughing. Remus winced.

"That's sick."

"I thought it was funny." James shrugged obviously happy with Sirius' reaction. Remus decided to change the subject again. He really didn't like it when the teased Snape.

"Did you guys get your homework done?" He asked and Sirius snickered. James nodded but Peter shook his head. James gave him an annoyed look, but Peter didn't notice.

"I was hoping you guys could help me with it." He said in a small voice.

"Why didn't you get James to help you. You were with him all summer." Sirius asked, a little bit of envy in his voice.

"My patience can't take it anymore." James explained. Sirius laughed, and Remus sighed. He moved over beside Peter and James moved to his seat. He wanted to lie down and he couldn't do that with both Remus and Peter on the bench.

"Was Sniv's girlfriend with him?" Sirius asked.

"She isn't his girlfriend!" He said harshly, though he didn't know why.

"Sheash, man, calm down. What about Evans being with Snivellus makes you mad?" Sirius raised an eyebrow at him.

"I don't know, I just don't like the idea." James said, confused as to why Sirius had begun snickering.

"You like her."

"I do not!" he defended.

"Sure, Sure" he said mockingly.

"Really I don't." Sirius hid his smirk by standing and digging though his stuff for a book. He pulled it out and begun to read. The compartment became silent except for Remus and Peter until they got done.

"Is Sirius reading a book of his own free will?" Remus asked in mock-shock.

"Yes and believe it or not it is rather educational."

"No way. What is it?" Sirius marked his page and handed the book to Remus. He wasn't at all prepared for Remus' reaction. All the color completely drained from his face.

"What? What's wrong?" Sirius asked worried that he had mad a mistake. He couldn't think of anything wrong with the book.

"Umm.... N-nothing." Remus stuttered and quickly handed the book back, resisting the urge to throw it though the, probably unbreakable window.

James opened one eye, showing them that he actually was still awake. "What is it about?"

"Werewolves." Sirius answered putting the book away.

"He's afraid of werewolves, remember?" Remus looked at James in shock. He had never told them anything about werewolves, let alone that he was afraid of them. How did they reach that conclusion?

"Oh, right. I forgot." Remus turned to him still shocked. "Sorry Remmy."

"H-how did you know that?"

"You didn't want to burn my entire library last year till you saw the one on werewolf attacks." Remus stared at him not remembering for the longest time.

"Oh." Remus' gaze went to the floor. He was glad they had reached that conclusion instead of the truth.

Sirius thought just then might be a good time to change the subject. "Who's all going to try out for Quidditch this year?" He asked and to no ones surprise James' eyes lit up and he sat up.

"Oh! Oh! That reminds me!" He jumped up and almost stepped on Peter trying to reach his trunk. This was only a little surprising.

"What?" Sirius asked while James dug in his trunk.

"Your birthday present!" He said excitedly.

"Oh that." He said. A small part of him had been hoping James would forget. James jumped down and handed Sirius an unwrapped broomstick. Sirius stared at him in surprise. He wasn't exactly sure how he was expected to react when someone gives you a present so he just smiled and took the broomstick.

"It's the same kind I have, so I promise it's a good one."

"I don't doubt it, James."

"I figured you would already have one, Sirius." Remus said curiously.

"Ya, I thought I had one too, but it seems my mother had some strange idea that I would be majorly hurt if she snapped it. It's annoying, but a rather lame punishment. Usually hers are much more.... um creative really." He looked over his new broomstick, it was a rather expensive one too. "Thank you."

"No, problem. I wouldn't want you to not be able to try out for the team, just because your mothers a loser."

"So are you both trying out?" Peter asked. They nodded and he turned to Remus.

"Are you crazy? I couldn't go up fifty feet with nothing but a boom supporting me. I'd die!" He said feeling faint at just the idea of it. They laughed. "What positions are you going to try out for?" He asked. "The keeper, and two chasers graduated last year."

"And a beater is quitting so he can have time to focus on his N.E.." James added and Sirius shook his head.

"How could anyone put school work over Quidditch?" Sirius acted like it was a crime against nature.

"Imagine that, someone actually cares about graduating." Remus said sarcastically. James laughed.

"I know Rem, how could the." Remus rolled his eyes.

"We should probably change into our robes, I see the school up ahead." Peter said looking out the window. They nodded and started digging though their trunks for the robes.

When they were dressed the train had stopped and they began to all pile out of it. Sirius stopped and looked though the crowd.

"Si. What's up?" James followed Sirius' gaze and saw he was looking at a small looking first year, with short black hair. He was very obviously a Black. You could always tell when someone was a Black. Whether it was because of looks or just something in the way they walked no one knew, but you could always distinguish the Blacks from the 'normal' people. "Regulus?" He asked Sirius, who nodded.

"James! Sirius! Hurry up!" Remus yelled behind them. They ran up to meet him in one of the carriages.

"Coming!"


	38. The New Slytherin

Chapter 38

The New Slytherin

The beauty of Hogwarts never ceased to amaze Remus. He watched open-mouthed as the school got closer and closer, just like he did the first time.

"Merlin! How I missed you!" Sirius yelled at the school when the carriage landed and he got out. James smirked when a large amount of the students stared at them.

"Just ignore him. He's gone crazy." He told the onlookers. The ones that had remembered his insanity turned back to the school while the rest just kept staring. "Come on Si. We all know you're insane, there is no need to remind us." James smiled at his best friend, and everyone continued walking to the school.

"But I liked reminding everyone." Sirius whined.

"Well wait till after the feast." Remus added. "I'm starving and you're making us wait even longer."

Sirius laughed. "Fine, but it's got to come out sooner or later."

James stopped. "Why do we have to wait until after the feast?" He asked getting a familiar look in his eye.

"I... am... hungry." Remus repeated slowly as though he was talking to someone who barely spoke the same language.

"Why can't we do it during the feast." James asked now that they were one of the last ones to the castle. Now no one could over hear them.

Sirius smirked. "James is right. Someone has to welcome the new students, and who better to do that than..."

"They Marauders!" James and Sirius finished at the same time, giving each other a high five. Remus chuckled, he should have known. Pranks were the only thing these two thought about.

"We can use Remus' new fire spell thing." James said excitedly.

"But that is only for the warning. What should we do for the prank?" Remus asked.

"Peter and I fond a spell over the summer that makes screaming sounds come from like everywhere. We could use it to scare everyone."

"Awesome! That would work perfectly with a spell I found believe it or not in our home library, I got desperately bored. It causes all of the lights to go out no matter what the lights are from."

"But won't that block the light from the fire in the message?" Remus asked.

"Not necessarily, the caster can choose if any light made while the spell is in effect, will show be hidden." Sirius said, rather proud of himself.

"What if we make it rain?" Peter asked and they looked at him in confusion.

"Why would we want it to rain?" Sirius asked.

"If it's dark they won't know it's just water." He said quietly as though regretting saying anything.

"And they might think it's blood! Peter you're a genius!" James said completely forgetting that it had taken almost a week just to teach Peter how to make it rain in a building.

"Wouldn't they know better after what we did last Halloween?"

"Not really. People don't really think right when their scared." Sirius said as they sat down in the great all where they usually sat, which thankfully was still rather far from where everyone else was.

"That and they won't recognize the handwriting." James added.

"They won't?"

"Um...No, I mean I know you'll want to change your handwriting, but I doubt you'll be able to do it exactly like Sirius did." Remus went a little pale.

"Me?"

"Well ya, You're the one who found the spell."

"I thought Sirius was doing it."

"I'm turning off the lights, remember?"

"Then James?" He was half begging by now.

"Noise maker." He said quickly. "You're the only one that knows how to do the spell right now, Rem." Remus moaned.

"Don't introduce us as the Marauders until it's over." Sirius said, a little teasingly.

"All right." Remus said worryingly.

"Calm down, It'll be dark, no one will see you."

"Should I make it sound like you do?"

"No. Do it how ever you want but don't make it like mine. It'll make it less obvious."

"Look! The Fresh Meat is here." James said pointing to the first years, that were now walking into the room. Sirius chuckled at the nickname.

The watched the first years nervously pile into the room. James wasn't surprised to see Sirius' gaze fall on, and never leave, one individual. He elbowed Peter and kicked Remus under the table. The looked at him and he pointed at the object of Sirius' interests.

"That's Sirius' brother, Regulus." He whispered and they looked where he was pointing. Remus turned back to him with surprise, James didn't blame him. Sirius and Regulus may have looked extremely alike, but they couldn't have been more different. Even before they had become friends, Sirius had always had a casual aura around him. Even in nervousness he remained calm and laid back. Not Regulus. Even this far away it was obvious Regulus was very regal. He was important and he knew it.

Despite how similar they looked, no one would be able to tell they were brothers. Cousins maybe, but not brothers.

"Are you sure?" Remus asked proving his train of thought.

James nodded, and Remus turned back to Regulus. The first year seemed determined not to look in their direction. Every once in a while his head would begin to turn towards them a little, but he always caught himself and stared straight ahead.

McGonagall began calling names and there were two people with last names beginning with A before...

"Black, Regulus!" The entire room went silent. Everyone wanted to see if the youngest black would follow in the foot steps of his parents or in the foot steps of their heir.

To James' surprise Sirius turned around in his seat when McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on Regulus' head. He closed his eyes and slowly got tense during the time Regulus was up there. Remus noticed and put his hand on Sirius' shoulder.

"It'll be alright." He whispered, but he spoke too soon.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Sirius winced at the sound of the word, before putting his head in his arms and hiding his face. Remus gave James a pained look while trying to comfort Sirius. He turned to look at the front of the room, where Regulus was heading to the Slytherin table. Remus couldn't tell if he looked happy about his sorting or not. He sat down between a Black Remus didn't know and one he recognized Sirius had called Andromeda. Andromeda was watching Sirius with concern. She met Remus' gaze and the expression on her face made it clear she had been hoping for the same thing Sirius had been.

"Maybe it won't be so bad. Just because he's a Slytherin doesn't mean..."

"That's exactly what it means." Sirius interrupted, not looking up. "It means he doesn't want anything to do with me." He seemed to choke on the words.

"You don't know that." James protested.

"I know Reggy. I know what it means."

Thankfully Sirius had the entire sorting to fix his carefree mask before the feast began and their prank was set to begin. He was almost done picking up the pieces when Dumbledore stood to speak. He said mostly the same thing as last year. Forbidden Forest was Forbidden, magic wasn't allowed in the hallways. Junk like that that made James decide to try and break as many rules as possible this year. Finally the food for the feast appeared.

"Would you like to start, Sirius." Sirius nodded attempting to act like he was cheered up. James saw right though it though. He was hoping this prank would cheer him up.

Sirius pulled out his wand under the table and muttered a spell. Many people screamed in shock.

"I'll go next." Remus said wanting to get it over with.

_**It is a pleasure to meet the lovely students and staff of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! **_

Now was one of the very few times being a werewolf came in handy. The absence of light didn't hurt his visibility at all. Everything just changed colors. He could see everyone's reactions. James was right. The differences in grammar and handwriting completely hid that it was the marauder. The change from paint to fire didn't hurt much either.

James didn't give Dumbledore a chance to answer. Suddenly there was screaming coming from everywhere, and not just from the spell. Everyone seemed to think that it was the person beside them that was screaming, causing them to scream too. Remus smirked. This was fun.

_**It is a shame it was for such a short time! **_

Remus heard Sirius laugh beside him and James nudged Peter who jumped.

"Wha?" He asked. "Oh." He took out his wand and it started raining. The screams were louder. The rain fooled everyone, they actually thought it was blood. He turned to Regulus out of curiosity. He was standing, and soaking wet. He looked like he was going to faint.

"Is your brother afraid of blood?" Remus whispered forgetting that he wasn't supposed to be able to see anything. Sirius stiffened.

"Stop!" He told James and Peter, who did instantly, apparently they had heard what Remus whispered, because they didn't ask any questions. The lights suddenly came back on. Remus continued, signing the prank to the Marauders.

_**Welcome to Hogwarts.**_

_**From the Marauders. **_

There was a silence before people reacted. A few people laughed, able to find humor in being scared half to death. Most of the students were still scared, people looked to their friends to make sure they were okay. Lilly Evans even ran clear across the room to the Slytherin table to check on Snape. Despite getting dirty looks from everyone at said table.

Sirius turned to the Slytherin table. Regulus was dead pale, and was staring at himself as though he was trying to figure out if the water really was just water. Sirius looked like he was about to run over there but held himself back. He was mouthing to himself over and over 'he's not a baby.'

Dumbledore stood looking rather upset, it was rather clear that no one was hurt, but he didn't like to be threatened twice, by the same people. "Is the Marauders still in the room?" He asked thin air.

Remus gave James and Sirius a desperate look. "Do I answer?"

"If you want to." Was all James said. Remus made a quick decision.

_**Maybe. It would depend on what you want from us Dumbledore. **_

Remus couldn't bring himself to call Dumbledore by his first name like Sirius had.

"Are you the same person or thing that you were last year?" he asked a little confused by the obvious difference.

_**You could say that if you wish. **_

"You aren't going to give me a straight answer are you."

_**It would depend on your definition of a straight answer. **_

Sirius snickered quietly. "You're good at this. You should do it more often."

"Thanks" Remus replied proudly.

"Why are you here?" He seemed determined to get some answers from them.

_**Why shouldn't we be here? **_

Dumbledore sighed, but McGonagall answered for him.

"No one invited you here, and you are scaring the students that's why!"

_**You don't want us here? I'm hurt. Perhaps we should be a little more creative, that would keep you entertained. Yes?**_

James was having trouble keeping quiet. He wanted to laugh so bad.

"That isn't what I meant!" McGonagall said looking harassed. That obviously wasn't the response she was hoping for.

_**I believe it is. You are just unwilling to admit it. You want to look good for everyone around. But we know. We know you are enjoying this just as much as we are. You can not fool the Marauders.**_

James couldn't hold it in, he hid his face in his hand and started laughing quietly. There was a pause while McGonagall slammed her head on the table, realizing she wasn't going to get anywhere by arguing with them.

_**If that is all my dear friends I bid you adieu. **_

Remus turned from the good bye as it slowly began to fade away. He filled his plate with food and began eating with a smile on his face. He thoroughly enjoyed messing with them like that. It was a lot funner then he thought it would be.

"Now aren't you glad we let you do it instead of Sirius?" James said noticing his smile. Remus just nodded. Sirius put his arm around Remus' shoulders.

"You make a wicked Marauder!"

A/N) I used a font called BrockScript for Remus' writing. It is really fancy looking. I don't know if I downloaded it or if it comes with the word document so if you want to make it look more realistic just paste it into a word document and use that font for the writing on the wall.

Sorry if this prank was lame, but I have a good excuse! The Marauders only had like half an hour to think of it, thus explains why it was um.. uncreative.

Also about Regulus, I really have no idea why I made him afraid of blood. I think it's because in my mind, Regulus is an innocent child who has just had really bad influences. I love Regulus, I did even before finding out he was a good guy. He's life has been almost as hard as Sirius' but unlike Sirius his heart wasn't strong enough to betray the people he loved, even if they are horrible people. He isn't as strong minded as Sirius, and because of that he makes some really bad choices. But in the end he realizes that sometimes you have to hurt the people you love to make the world a better place for them to live in. He realizes Sirius was right, and he doesn't just sit there and cry about it. He died for it. Just like Sirius would have done.


	39. New Quest

Chapter 39

New Quest

Sirius did try to remain friends with Regulus, but he had been right the first day. The kid seemed to not want anything to do with him. He completely ignored Sirius, and in the rare occurrence that he provided an answer it was always rude, or sarcastic.

Sirius tried to not let it show how much it it was upsetting him, but his friends saw right threw it. James had become excellent at reading Sirius' feelings, and was pretty good at telling exactly what Sirius needed. Right now, he was sure Sirius needed a midnight snack, though they weren't sure if he felt that way because Sirius needed it, or because he wanted one but didn't want to go alone.

"Come on, guys. Since when have we cared about going out after curfew." James asked Sirius and Remus. Peter was still asleep.

"I don't, but sleep sounds good right now." Sirius said in an annoyed voice.

"Midnight snacks always help me sleep."

"James. If I go with you, will you promise never to wake me up for something this unimportant again."

"This is important. Look at Remus! He's wasting away over there!"

"Hey! I thought this was about Sirius!" Remus replied. "And I am not wasting away! I'm just skinny!"

"I'm going to use what ever excuse works, Rem." He said honestly. "And if you're just skinny then I'm a fat pig."

"You are a fat pig." Sirius said moving to lie back down.

"Please!!!!!!!!!" James begged.

"No."

"Please! Please! Please! Please! Please!" James continued until Sirius couldn't take it any longer.

"Fine!" He got out of bed. "I'll go if you shut up and let me sleep!"

"Yay!!!" James cheered. "Come on Remus!"

"I didn't say I want to go James." Remus reminded him.

"Ya, but you aren't going to be able to sleep anyway. So you might as well come." Remus sighed. He had forgotten how observant they were. A normal person probably would not have noticed that he didn't sleep around this time. Whether or not they had noticed it had something to do with a full moon he wasn't sure though. He really hoped not.

Remus didn't reply but got up and followed them anyway. They didn't even bother to bring James' invisibility cloak. Though they should have, because half-way to the kitchens Remus heard someone walking along the hall straight towards them.

"Crud." He said quietly.

"What?" James responded.

"There's someone coming." He looked around for a place to hide.

"How do you know?" Sirius did the same.

"I can hear them."

"I don't hear anything." Sirius stopped and watched Remus.

"Just trust me."

"Here behind this statue. It's big enough to hide us." He said and they attempted to hide behind the statue, but to their surprise there was no wall behind it. It was a secret tunnel. James and Sirius gawked at it for a moment before Remus pushed them in.

"Hurry up!" They hid in the tunnel.

"I wonder where this goes." Sirius said, walking along it.

"Shush!"

"Remus I don't hear anyone." Sirius replied though he whispered it.

"It's McGonagall." Remus told them, as though it proved he wasn't hearing things. A little while later they heard it too. Though they couldn't tell who it was. They peeked out of the sides of the statue and saw McGonagall walking while reading a book. They waited till she passed before climbing out.

"I wonder what she was reading." James said watching the hall behind them that she had disappeared in. Remus examined the statue curious as to where the tunnel went an why it was there, before he felt eyes burning a hole in is back. He turned and saw Sirius staring at him.

"What?"

"Nothing." Sirius said quickly before turning away and walking back into the tunnel. "I'm going to follow this. It is a lot more interesting then going to the kitchens." He told James.

"But I'm hungry." He whined but followed anyway. Remus hesitated, but climbed in with the others. The look on Sirius' face when he was watching him was really worrying Remus. He didn't suspect anything right. There were some normal people with really good hearing.

"This is really long." James interrupted Remus' thoughts.

"What if it's a dead end?"

"It would still good to know about, even if it is. It's a great place to hide stuff."

They continued to follow the path. It wasn't much longer before Remus saw the end of it, but he didn't say anything, just in case they couldn't see it yet.

"Darn." He heard James say. "It is a dead end." They stood in front of the blocked wall.

"Maybe not. Feel this James." Sirius countered while touching the wall. James did the same.

"What is that?" Remus' curiosity got the best of him and he touched it also. It wasn't brick, like the rest of the walls in the school.

"Is that a canvas?" Remus mostly asked himself. They tried pushing on it but it didn't budge.

"Maybe it wants a password." Sirius suggested.

"Great, so how are we going to figure it out? We have to get out of here sooner or later." James replied sighing. Remus wondered if it ever occurred to either of them just to turn around and go back though the other way.

"Just guess, I suppose." Sirius answered. "Umm. Open" He said to the picture. "Nope."

"Maybe the picture doesn't speak English." James said randomly. "Abierte!" He waited a moment. "Nothing."

"You know Spanish?" Sirius asked.

"Ya, like three words." James shrugged, and Sirius laughed.

"Maybe it just doesn't like Spanish." Sirius suggested. "Kaihou. Ouvres!"

Remus laughed as Sirius just rattled off the word open in what ever languages he could think of. After a while Sirius either gave up or ran out of languages.

"You try Remus." James said looking at Remus.

"I don't know what it is."

"Neither did we."

"Alright...umm... Open sesame?" He said remembering the common muggle phrase. He jumped when the picture blocking the path actually opened. He just stared at it with his mouth wide open.

"How'd you do that?" Sirius asked climbing out of the tunnel.

"I just guessed." Remus answered still just standing there in shock.

"What in the world does open sesame mean?" James followed Sirius out.

"It's from a movie I watched when I was younger."

"What's a movie?" Sirius asked. Remus stared at him for a moment in surprise.

"I guess it's a muggle thing."

"Oh." Sirius dropped the subject knowing he would not understand. "Where are we?"

"Um..." James opened one of the doors in the corridor and inside was the DADA class room. "Woah! Now that is a shortcut." He said surprised at how far they came in such a short time.

"Well we don't have to be worried about being late to this class anymore."

"I wonder if there are any more shortcuts like that around." Remus looked behind them and saw that the picture they climbed out of had closed. It was a painting of a mermaid who kept waving and winking at him.

"I suppose that's what we're going to end up doing all year isn't it? Finding the rest of these." Sirius said happily. So their map wasn't completely done then.

"I'm still hungry guys." James complained now that the curiosity from the shortcut was gone.

"Fine let's go." Sirius agreed and they headed down to the kitchens.

.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next morning Remus was really sick. The full moon was that night and it was making him worse then usual. He spent almost the entire day in the hospital wing. He had thought it wouldn't be that hard to keep them from finding out why he was so sick. Madam Pomfrey made some random excuse for it. He didn't, of course, count on the fact that they just might feel the need to stay with him the whole time. James and Sirius even skipped Potions to stay there. Peter was too scared to. Remus tried to convince them that he was fine.

"To tell you the truth, Rem. I'm just glad that you finally decided to stop pretending you aren't sick." Sirius said. He was sitting at the foot of the bed Madam Pomfrey had almost permanently assigned to Remus. "I was getting a little tired of you, pretending you were fine."

"I am fine. You don't have to bore yourselves to death trying to keep me company." Remus half begged.

"Give it up, Remus. I don't even think I could get the puppy away from his master's feet right now." James said teasing Sirius about where he decided to sit. Sirius glared at him for a moment before choosing to ignore him. Remus sighed and closed his eyes. Maybe if he pretended he was asleep they would leave.

Madam Pomfrey came out of her office and sighed. "Aren't you boys supposed to be in class." Remus thanked God that she showed up.

"But.."

"Remus needs sleep. You boys yacking at him isn't going to help. Shoo!"

"Yes ma'am." James stood. "Come on, Si."

"But..." Sirius protested.

"Be a good boy, or no doggy treat for you." He teased. Sirius growled and chased him out of the room.

"AHHH! Good Dog! Sit Doggy Sit!!!" Remus could hear James yelling from the hall. He laughed.

"What is all the dog jokes about?" Madam Pomfrey asked walking over to Remus.

"His name. It comes from the 'dog star.'"

"Oh, yes. I think I heard something about that. Never been that good at astronomy myself."

"Sirius mentioned it once and James won't let it drop."

"Oh." She laughed. "You have good friends, Remus. Bloody annoying, but good." She told him. "They're smart too." This she said as a warning.

"I know"

* * *

A/N) Hehe I love making people make dog jokes to Sirius. It's so much fun! ^_^

If anyone is curious the book McGonagall was reading was on animagi. She's still working on becoming one.


	40. Werewolf

Chapter 40

Werewolf

Sirius and James were the only ones awake in the dorm room. Peter was asleep and Remus was still in the hospital wing. It was nearing midnight, but since it was Friday they didn't have to wake up at any specific time in the morning. James was, surprisingly at the desk doing homework while Sirius lied in bed reading a book.

"We should go see him." James said looking up from his potions essay.

"We did. Three times. Last time Pomfrey wouldn't even let us in." Sirius didn't look up from the book to meet his gaze

"We should try again."

"The results will be the same."

"You don't know that." James abandoned his essay and sat on Sirius bed also.

"He isn't going to die, James. It isn't that bad."

"I know."

"James, will you do me a favor and open the blinds on the window." He asked. He had his blankets over top of him, so it was easier for James to do it. James looked at the window.

"Why is it shut?" He walked over and opened them, showing a beautiful view of the full moon.

"I think we shut them last year." Sirius looked out the window and wrote something down in a little book beside him.

"Oh ya. Remus did it one night." Sirius looked up at James with surprise written on his face.

"He did? Did he say why?" James gave Sirius a confused look.

"No, I don't think so. Why?" He asked when Sirius started flipping though the pages of one book and writing something down in the other one.

"Do you remember when he did it?" James shook is head.

"What are you doing?" He asked walking back over to Sirius' bed. He looked at the book Sirius wrote in. It was the journal Remus' parents had got him for Christmas last year.

"I think I figured out what's wrong with Remus."

"Pomfrey said he was just low on vitamins."

"Once a month, every month, for a week?"

"What?"

"And always during a full moon?" James looked at him in shock.

"What?"

"I used the journal Remus' parents gave me last year. I dated all my entries. About once a month his mum would get sick, I wrote them down. I also noticed a long time ago that he starts looking sick around the time he had to go home. At first I thought it was a coincidence, but now I don't think that anymore. Have you noticed, him mum didn't get sick this month?"

"She got better over the summer?"

"She got better, but Remus got sick instead. That doesn't sound like a coincidence to me." James didn't respond. "This book..." He showed James the book he'd been reading. It was the same book he'd been reading on the train to Hogwarts. "It has a lunar chart in the back. The dates of the full moon, and the dates of the entries in my journal that I mentioned Remus leaving match up perfectly James." He waited for a response from James.

"What are you saying, Sirius.?" He really didn't want to believe that Sirius was even thinking about this.

"I think Remus is a werewolf." Sirius said quietly. There was a hush in the room. Even Peter seemed to stop snoring. James and Sirius stared at each other.

"You're wrong." James whispered, as though breaking the silence meant the death penalty.

"I don't think I am. There is tons of proof." Sirius responded not much louder than James did.

"Like what?" James was beginning to get mad. He knew Sirius thought Remus was hiding something, but now Sirius was calling Remus a liar.

"When we found the shortcut he heard McGonagall coming long before we did."

"He had good ears. So what, maybe she said something?"

"He knew exactly who it was."

"Recognized the voice?" James sounded like he was beginning to get desperate.

"During the feast he was able to tell Regulus was freaking out over the 'blood' even though it was pitch black, there were loud noises everywhere, and Reg was on the other side of the room."

"Umm." James was out of excuses.

"He's always sick, really pale, and freaks out when we even mention any kind of dark creatures."

"Remus isn't a liar!" James said standing up. "I'll admit there is something weird going on, but Remus wouldn't lie to us."

"He would if he thought we would abandon him if he told us the truth."

"He trusts us, he wouldn't think that." James closed his eyes. "He trusts us."

"It isn't a matter of trust, James. If we told anyone, even if it was an accident, he would be kicked out of school and Dumbledore would be sacked."

"What? Why?"

"Do you remember what Slughorn told us the first time we talked to him?"

"That I didn't add enough toad eyes to my potion?" He said confused.

"No, the first time we talked to him outside of class."

"Oh, ya, he said something about it being okay to kill werewolves..." He paused for a moment. "And Remus got really pale. I thought that was just because his father was mentioned, but if..." James didn't finish his sentence.

"Slugbreath isn't the only one who feels like that. It is a common belief. A lot of people think werewolves should die."

"Why? They're people too."

"People are afraid of them, James. It's natural to want the things you're afraid of to be destroyed. It's part of being human."

"They're not that bad."

"They can kill an entire town in one night, if the people don't have specific protections."

"But only in one night. I mean the werewolves would magically lock themselves in, and they would be completely harmless."

"They wouldn't."

"Why not?"

"Most, not all but most, of them don't mind killing people."

"That isn't true!"

"Yes it is, James. They become bitter over what they have become and want to take it out on anyone who offends them." Sirius told him. James didn't respond so Sirius continued. "That's why no one wants to be near them. They're afraid to make them mad. If they did, all the werewolf would have to do is place themselves outside the victim's home just before sundown on a full moon night. They keep enough of their minds to know which target they want to go for first, of course there's no guarantee that their target will be the only one killed, but hey the more the merrier." Sirius explained grimly. "If the intended victim wasn't expecting them they would have no protection what so ever.

"I'm not saying all of them are like that, but most of them are, James. With good reason too. Remus is lucky. His parents still love him, and he has us. Most of them, when they get bitten, everyone abandons them. Their family, their friends... and they can't make new ones, because everyone is afraid of them." Sirius ended watching James' reaction.

James just stared at the floor. "Remus is lucky." Sirius nodded. "I guess it makes sense that he wouldn't tell us then."

"Right. I wouldn't have told you lot either if I were in his shoes." There was another silence as they thought about their discovery.

"What can we do?" James asked.

"I don't know, but we have to do something. When werewolves are locked up, according to this book, they do a lot of damage, and not just to the furniture either."

"You think he's hurting himself?"

"He's never back at daybreak, so I can only assume that he spends some time in the hospital wing afterwords."

"Does the book say how bad they hurt themselves?" Sirius didn't answer immediately, and when he did it wasn't more than a whisper.

"It mentioned one case when a werewolf about his age ended up dieing from the wounds." Sirius couldn't look James in the eye. "And very few of them die of natural causes." James sighed. He reached up and rubbed Sirius' head almost like he was petting him.

"It'll be okay. We'll figure out some way to help him."

"There's no cure." Sirius responded quietly, not avoiding James' hand.

"We'll find a way." James repeated. "Until then staying up all night isn't going to help him any, let's get some sleep." James stood and walked over to his bed, trying to block all thoughts from his head, so he didn't have to think about Remus.

"I don't think I can."

"At least try." James said turning out all the lights.

They did manage to sleep. James managed to block all werewolf thoughts from his mind, Sirius wasn't so lucky. He was restless all night and had numerous nightmares. All were centered on Remus getting killed.

* * *

A/N) Ans so the secret is not a secret anymore. I hope I did alright with how they found out. This is actually a really short, maybe I'll upload the next chapter to make up for it.


	41. Confronting the Werewolf

Chapter 41

Confronting the Werewolf.

James woke that morning to Sirius screaming quite loudly. He moaned and tried to register in his brain what the annoying sound actually was.

James sat up and was instantly blinded by the light coming in from the window. He wished that they had kept it closes last night. He quickly became alert when he remembered last night and got up to wake Sirius up.

"Sirius! Sirius!" Sirius moaned and hid his face under a pillow.

"Too bright." He complained and James went an shut the blinds over the window. Sirius slowly got up.

"You alright?" Sirius just nodded.

"What's going on?" Peter asked finally waking up.

"Sirius had a nightmare." James explained, but it was pretty clear Peter was too tired to listen.

"Remus!" Sirius said loudly, remembering what his dream was about. He got up quickly, grabbed a random pile of clothes from his trunk and rushed into the bathroom.

"What's wrong with Remus?" Peter asked again.

"Remus is sick." James answered, he didn't feel like explaining right now. He grabbed some clothes and changed into them. Well he tried to. Sirius came out of the bathroom and started telling them to hurry up, which was really just making it take longer as it caused James to get nervous and accidentally try to put his head though his sleeve. When he finally had all the appendages though the right holes he climbed out from behind the curtains around his bed.

"Finally!" Sirius said and grabbed James' arm. He proceeded to drag James out of the dorm, with Peter following obviously confused.

"Um.. Did you brush your hair?" James asked, shocked that Sirius actually left the dorm without spending four hours in the bathroom.

"Is that really that important right now?" Sirius answered.

"I guess not. It's just that... Oh never mind."

When they got to the hospital wing they didn't bother to stop at the doors. Though they did attempt to be quiet.

"Please let him not be here! Please let him not be here! Please let him not be here!" James repeated as they looked around for him, at first it didn't look like he was there.

Until they saw one of the beds had someone hidden under the covers. James and Sirius walked up to it slowly, as though they were afraid to find out who it was. Peter just watched them like he thought they were crazy. When they got up to the bed they gave each other a frightened look, deciding who was going to pull back the covers. James lost. He reached up to the covers and pulled them back.

Peter jumped back at the sight of Remus under the blanket. Sirius and James just froze. There were deep gashes all over his face, and teeth marks on his arms. He looked worse then horrible. It was like something from the books in Sirius' home library.

"Remus." James whispered and knelt to the floor beside the bed. He couldn't hold himself up any longer. Sirius had been right. Remus was a werewolf, there was no doubting that now. One of his best friends had been going though the closest thing this Earth had to hell this whole time, and James hadn't even noticed. "Oh, God, Remus." He cried. He couldn't stop himself. He hid his face in his arms and bawled. He felt Sirius' hand on his back as Sirius sat on the floor beside him. Sirius didn't cry. He was too scared to cry. Remus looked like some dog's chew toy. How could anyone survive wounds like that.

"Black! Potter! Pettigrew! What do you think you are doing!" They looked up and saw Madam Pomfrey, glaring at them. They couldn't answer her. Peter was so confused.

"What's going on? Why is Remus hurt?"

"That isn't any of your business.."

James blew up.

No one had ever seen him so mad. They were worried his mind had finally snapped. Even Madam Pomfrey, who certainly wasn't known for her cowardice, looked scared of him.

Sirius watched him yell for a moment, before Remus started to moan. "James calm down."

James then got mad at Sirius, but Sirius didn't budge.

"You're going to wake up Remus." James seemed to visibly calm himself down and looked at Remus who was opening his eyes.

"Oops." He said quietly and walked back over to Remus' bed.

"James?" Remus said weakly.

"I'm sorry I woke you up, Remus." James sat back down on the floor and glared at Pomfrey as though it was her fault. Remus looked around and saw the rest of them too.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. Sirius answered this time.

"We came to check up on you, Remmy." Sirius ran his hand though Remus' hair, hoping it would comfort him. Remus looked worried and tried to cover himself up as much as he could with the blankets. Sirius noticed. "You don't have to hide any more. We already know." Remus gave a weak look of shock and Madam Pomfrey gasped.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

James gulped, he really didn't want to accuse Remus of being a liar. "We know your mum isn't really sick, Remus. Sirius figured it out last night." Remus looked at Sirius.

"We don't blame you for lying to us." Sirius told him. Peter gave them a confused look, but chose to remain silent.

Remus attempted to keep up the charade, in case they came to the wrong conclusion. "I really don't know..." He started but Sirius interrupted him, earning him a glare from James.

"We know you're a werewolf." He said quickly. Peter squeaked but held his mouth shut. Remus closed his eyes.

"How?" was all he said.

"I had some of the dates written down, and found out they were all on full moons." Sirius said, giving him a much shorter version than he'd given James. Remus moaned, he was expecting them to walk out on him at any time.

"Like Sirius said, we don't blame you for lying to us. We know we would have done the same thing if we were you." James added.

"I'm sorry." Remus choked out.

"Don't be sorry, Remmy. It isn't your fault. Bad things happen to good people." James said quickly hoping to kill any guilt Remus felt, and hoping to let him know they weren't going anywhere.

"What?"

"What he means is that we're here for you no matter what. We're not leaving no matter what, we wouldn't abandon you even if you wanted us too. It's too late, you've made friends with us, now you've go to deal with us. Even if we drive you completely crazy, we'll still come see you in the loony bin." Sirius smirked at Remus' surprised face.

"You're not mad?"

"Not in the slightest."

"Or afraid?"

"Only of loosing you." Remus looked at him with doubt. Sirius needed to prove to him it was true. "I had a nightmare last night. A lot of them actually." Remus looked worried. "You want to know what they all had in common?"

"Me?" He said quietly.

"Ya, and not just as a werewolf either. Most of them completely skipped that part and showed you lying in a hospital bed. You died in all of them." Remus watched his facial expression for a while and nodded showing Sirius he believed him. Sirius gave a huge smile.

"Yes!" James cheered. He was glad that Sirius did most of the talking. He still felt like crying.

"Remind me to hug you when you get better. If I do it now I know at least two people in this room who would kill me." Sirius said happily, referring to James and Pomfrey.

"You'd hug a werewolf?" Remus asked, still not quite getting it.

"No." He said quickly. James glared at him. "But I hug Remus all the time. Why wouldn't I want to do it now?" He said before James could hit him. Remus laughed, he felt as though a huge burden was lifted off of his shoulders. He was so happy, maybe even happier than he had been when he first met them. He couldn't even feel any pain anymore. Or he didn't until he thought that. He winced as it all came back. They turned to him.

"You okay Remus?" Remus just smiled at them.

"I'm fine." They didn't believe him.

"Alright, now I want you boys out of here." Madam Pomfrey ordered, though she looked like she had been crying. James was going to protest, but Remus beat him too it.

"Can they stay? Please. I promise they won't be real loud or anything." She watched him for a moment.

"Fine but if I hear any yelling they're gone. Got that?" She said to them. They nodded excitedly. She left the room to get Remus something to help with the pain. He drank it without complaining about how bad it tasted for once.

"I still can't believe you actually thought we would dump you when we found out." James pouted. Remus was going to apologize again but Sirius had to put his two cents in first.

"It's the moon's fault it makes him kind of looney." They laughed. "Actually, I think it makes him rather Moony." Sirius laughed. "I like that word. Moony. Ha, that's your new nickname, since you hate Rem and Remmy so much. You're Moony now." Remus sighed.

"Sirius, Moony isn't much better than Remmy."

"I don't care, Moony." He said happily. James laughed.

"Sirius..."

"Give up Moony, You know how he is with his random nicknames." James added

"You don't have to encourage it you know."

"I'm not Moony." He said defensively.

"Yes you are, you're using the nickname too."

"Oh I am." He said in fake surprise. "I guess it just fits so well I didn't notice." He teased causing both him and Sirius to laugh, and Remus tried to hide a smile.

"You guys are mean." He teased them back. "I'm sick, you're supposed to be nice to sick people."

"Sorry Moony, but we have to have a little revenge. I mean, you scared us half to death, you know." James said with humor etched on his face.

"No I didn't, how did I scare you?"

"Are you Moony?" Sirius laughed a little at his own joke. "Have you even looked at yourself?"

"I try not to." he said truthfully. Why would he want to look at himself when he was like this.

"Well you look like a corpse." James told him.

"You look worse then a corpse. Every corpse I've seen looked better than you do." They stared at him.

"Do you.. um... see corpses often?" James asked, he hated it when Sirius said stuff like that.

"No, but the few I have seen looked better then he does." The gave him a freaked out look. "Oh come on guys! Like you've never been to a funeral! Merlin, you people." He said exasperatedly.

"Oh, um, right. Of course I knew you meant at a funeral. Moony, Peter, how could you guys think something like that?" James said turning red. Sirius sighed.

"What did you think? That my parents killed people in front of me? They may be freaks, but they aren't sickos." Sirius paused for a moment. "Anyway even if they did kill someone, there would be no way it'd look better than Remus does."

"Guys, I would appreciate it if we didn't talk about death right now." Remus said. "I am in the hospital right now you know." He reminded.

"Sorry, Moony."

"You're never going to stop calling me that are you, Sirius."

"Nope."

"Darn, and I was almost getting used to Remmy."

"Sorry Moony."

"No you're not."

"You know me so well." Sirius smirked.

"You're not going to call me that in public are you?"

"Yes."

"You can't, what if people ask questions?"

"Then we tell them to buzz off." James answered for Sirius.

"Then they'll know we're hiding something."

"So, normal people don't really care. As long as you give them something gossip about then they're happy."

"What are we going to give them to gossip about?"

"That James has a crush." Remus and Peter looked at James in confusion, while James looked a Sirius the same way.

"I do not."

"You do to."

"Who?"

"Evans." He said with a smirk.

"Do not!" James had to control the urge to tackle him, or they would be kicked out.

"Oh stop it, you so do."

James turned around and faced Remus with his eyes closed.

"Don't punch him, don't punch him." He repeated to himself at least five times.

"I don't know James, you two would look good together." Remus teased.

"Eww are you kidding. She's so annoying."

"You know you want to kiss her."

"Not if she were the last girl on the planet."

A/N) Awwwwww. Best Friends Forever. Or at least until Peter stabs them in the back. STUPID PETER! If you can't tell I added a little bit of revenge for Peter. He had to find out that Remus was a werewolf and didn't have a chance to really make a choice on whether or not he wanted to remain friends. SO HA! Stupid rat. ^_^ See ya next time!


	42. Moony's Secret

Chapter 42

Moony's Secret

The Marauders were surprised at how fast Remus healed. Well Remus wasn't, but the others were. Remus was used to it. He was able to leave at noon. Normally he would have hid a little longer and waited for the scars to go away, but now he didn't have anything to hide. So he figured he'd wait for them to go away in the dorm room.

It was going to take him a long time to get used to them knowing his secret, and even longer to get used to their nonchalant attitude about it. Every time the topic came up he found himself waiting for them to run away screaming, but they never did. He was still just Remus to them. Sirius gave him a hug as soon as he got out of the hospital wing. Sirius was insulted that Remus was surprised when he did.

Speaking of surprises they had a big one when none other than McGonagall walked into the common room.

They had only seen her in the common room once before. When she thought the Marauders were attacking the students.

"Potter, Black, Pettigrew, Lupin. Come with me." She told them ignoring the fact that the entire common room was staring open mouthed at her.

Them Marauders didn't answer. They just stared at her in shock.

"Well..Come on." He repeated impatiently. They jumped up quickly and followed her out of the room. She didn't speak as she lead them to her office.

"Are we in trouble Professor?" Remus asked confused. They hadn't done anything to be in trouble for lately.

"For once, no." She answered not turning to look at them.

"Then what are we doing?" Sirius said, sounding annoyed. He'd bee in the middle of planning a prank on Snape when she interrupted them.

"Not in the hallway." She replied, making them even more curious. She stopped in front of her office door. "Lupin. You first." Remus followed her in. "Sit down."

"Yes ma'am." Remus sat down in one of the four chairs in front of her desk. Remus hid a smirk. Last year she only kept one chair there, the Marauders were in her office so often that she had decided to save herself the time and energy of summoning chairs and just kept four there.

"I got a bit of rather surprising news from Poppy this morning." She began. Moony smiled.

"Oh, about James, Sirius, and Peter coming to see me in the hospital wing?" She nodded.

"How much do they know?"

"Everything."

"How did they find out?"

"Sirius connected the dates I was gone with the dates in a lunar chart in one of his books. I'm not exactly sure what gave him the idea to do that though."

"All right." She paused for a moment. "Do you trust them to keep it a secret, Remus?"

"Easily." He replied smiling. She nodded and stood.

"All right then." McGonagall opened the door. "Black, Potter, Pettigrew. Come in here please."

They walked in quickly.

"What's going on Professor?" James asked as they sat down.

"What ever happened I swear I didn't do it." Sirius put on his most innocent face.

"Black, is there something your conscious is trying to tell me?" She said with an eyebrow raised.

"Professor! I'm offended, are you actually implying that I have actually caused trouble?"

"Black, had there ever been a day in your life you haven't caused as much trouble as possible?" She asked hiding a smile. James burst out laughing, but Sirius just gave her a thoughtful look.

"I haven't done anything too bad today."

James smirked. "Yet." Sirius chuckled and nodded.

"Yet."

McGonagall sighed. "Maybe I should just give you the detention now and save time."

"Probably a good idea Professor." James told her with a smirk.

"I wouldn't be saying that if I were you James." Remus told him. "Quidditch tryouts are set for next Friday and you both have detentions piled up to Thursday one more and you miss tryouts." James froze.

"Shoot! Does that mean we have to be good till then?" James gave Moony a horrified look, when he nodded. Sirius moaned and McGonagall smiled.

"Quidditch is a gift from God." She said happily.

"Professor, why are we here?" Peter asked quietly, reminding everyone he was there.

"Oh, yes, thank you, Pettigrew. I wanted to speak to you of your knowledge of Lupin's...er..condition."

"Oh, it's a bout Moony's furry little problem? Well why didn't you say so?" James said rolling his eyes. Remus reddened and Sirius chuckled.

"What did you just say?" She asked looking at him as though he'd gone insane.

"Moony's furry little problem. It's what I call it. We told everyone he had a troublesome rabbit at home, so it's safe to say in public. Also it's easier to say than lycan...whatever. How do you even pronounce that word. I mean c'mon who comes up with these names." James paused to take a breath.

"They had too much firewisky." Sirius smirked.

"Enough, be serious now." McGonagall said getting annoyed.

"I can't be serious. Only Sirius can be Sirius." James smirked. Sirius glared at him. It was a full blown death glare.

"Say that again. Say it again I dare you." Sirius told him though his teeth. Peter scooted his chair as far away from James as possible.

"Um. Hehe. Sorry" James said quickly, giving Sirius a fearful glance.

"Ya, I thought so."

"Sorry Professor. Please continue." She gave James an annoyed glare, and sighed, trying to calm herself down.

"I need to have your words that what you learned about Lupin will never leave your lips."

"I wouldn't tell anyone if my life depended on it." Sirius told them, probably more serious then he'd been all day. Remus blushed, he knew that Sirius meant every word of it. He would take the secret to the grave.

"Me too." James nodded and turned to Remus. "I promise I wont tell anyone." He said specificity to Moony.

"I know you wont." Remus replied smiling.

The turned to Peter. "I promise too."

McGonagall nodded. "All right then." She stood and opened the door. "That is all I need from you." They waked out of her office. They walked out of her office and headed back to the Gryffindor Tower.

"That was a waist of time. We already knew no one was going to tell anyone." James complained.

"At least we weren't in trouble." Remus told him.

"True I can't believe I have to be good for the next two weeks. Urg.. I'm already going though prank withdraw." Remus laughed.

"Well while you're trying to figure out how to be good. I'm just going to not get caught." Sirius told them, rolling his eyes.

"You can't, what if they do catch you?" James asked worried.

"Skip." They stared at him in shock. Peter was the first to respond.

"You cant skip a detention!"

"Why not?"

"You'll get a ton more." Remus said calmly, wondering why things like this still surprised him.

"Even better." He smirked, obviously thinking about their contest on who could get the most detentions by the end of their seventh year. "They count right?"

"If you're brave enough to skip, you deserve the points." Remus told him.

"McGonagall will hunt you down, and quite probably kill you." James said.

"Quidditch is worth it." He replied as though it was common to risk you life for the game. Then again Remus figured that they pretty much risk their lives just to play the game, and that isn't even taking the bludgers into account.

They climbed into the common room after James said the password, and immediately headed for their dorm, before being stopped by someone.

"Potter, Black!" One of the seventh years called and jogged over to them.

"What?" Sirius replied, barely hiding his annoyance.

"What did McGonagall want?" The seventh year asked with curiosity. She was obviously a gossip.

"She yelled at us for a prank we pulled recently." Sirius replied. He'd been working on it in his head the whole way back. He couldn't come from a pureblood family and know know how bad the gossip was at Hogwarts.

"What did you do?" She asked. "It must have been pretty bad if she came all the way here."

"None of your business." James told her before turning away. "Come on guys." James climbed up the stairs to the dorm and the rest followed.

"McGonagall's a worry wort." James said when they got in their room, choosing to ignore the rumors that were more than likely forming in the seventh years mind. Sirius nodded.

"Ya, everyone knows Moony's secret is safe with us."


	43. Tryouts

Chapter 43

Tryouts

Sirius didn't need to skip detention. They were careful and didn't get caught. Snivellus was hanging from a chandelier and the teachers were none the wiser when the Marauders left for the Quidditch tryouts. James was more excited then he'd ever been in his entire life. Alright no he wasn't but he was sure acting like it. An hour before it started James dragged them out to the field. He said he wanted to get some practice but the equipment wasn't out yet so they just sat around and chatted. It seemed to take forever but after a while people started to show up.

"What are you guys trying out for?" They heard a voice from behind them. Frank Longbottem stood there smiling at them.

"Frank, You're trying out too?" Sirius asked rather surprised. He never remembered Frank showing any enthusiasm for the game. He even skipped a game last year to study for exams.

"No! No. You couldn't get me on one of those death traps." He said laughing.

"Yes! I'm not the only sane one in the school!!!" Remus said ecstaticly, giving Frank a high five, something he hadn't realized he'd picked up from Sirius and James. Sirius mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'crazy'.

"I'm only here because Alice wanted to try out for keeper. She needed some moral support."

"Oh okay." James replied. "She dragged you here, didn't she."

"Threatened to tell mum that I failed last weeks History test." He explained, they laughed.

"Girls are annoying." Sirius replied with a smirk. He looked around for the captain to see if he had begun testing anyone yet. "James he's calling for the chasers." James quickly looked up then ran off.

"Okay, he's going for chaser then. What about you Sirius?" Frank asked already knowing Peter wouldn't be trying out.

"Beater." Sirius told him and Frank laughed.

"Why am I not surprised."

"I like hitting things." Sirius replied with a small smile. "If Alice dragged you here where is she?" Sirius asked watching James' tryout. He was nothing short of amazing. Most people could only dream of flying half as well as he could. There was no doubt he was going to get the position, and he even had a really bad partner.

"I'm not sure. I'm supposed to be looking for her right now, but she brought me here so I'm just going to let her find me.

"I would ask why you are even friends with her, but when you consider who I'm friends with, it would be rather hypocritical so I wont." Remus teased, Peter and Frank laughed, but Sirius didn't seem to be listening anymore. The others turned to watch James as well.

"Why is he so good at everything?" Frank pouted watching as James landed.

"I don't know." Sirius replied quietly, talking more to himself than to anyone else. He ran over to where James landed and gave him a high five. "That was awesome!" He said excitedly.

"The person I was with kept dropping it, it was driving me crazy." James complained. "I was doing everything right. Right?"

"Ya, it's not your fault, they were just really bad." Sirius reassured.

"Oh, good. I was a little worried."

"Good job, James." Remus said as he, Peter, and Frank walked up to them.

"That was better than just good Moony. Good is practically an insult. That was bloody amazing!" Sirius contradicted.

"That was really cool!" Frank smiled at them.

"Thanks. Oh the keepers are up next so Alice will be going up there to try out." Frank nodded and walked off to find his friend. "They're going to use the chasers to test the keepers so I have to get back up there." He told the Marauders. Sirius nodded.

"I feel bad for the keepers, none of them will get a perfect score." James laughed.

"You got that right!" He replied beaming at the complement. "I'll be right back."

"I'm bored." Sirius complained as soon as James left, his excited composure melting away. Remus had a feeling that it was going to come back the second James landed again. He was right of course. James landed, after getting yelled at twice by the captain that he needed to go easy on the keepers, and Sirius was excited again.

"I hope getting yelled at doesn't hurt my chances." James was watching the captains reaction.

"It won't, I was watching him, he was beaming every time he yelled." Sirius replied happily.

"Oh, good." He said smiling. "You're next."

"I know." He replied when the captain called for beaters. Sirius didn't say anything else as he left.

"He's faking." James said to Remus, giving the werewolf a worried look. "Did I do really bad or something?"

"No you did fine, I think he's just in a bad mood."

"He was fine earlier."

"He's probably just nervous. Not everyone has your impenetrable self confidence you know." Remus reminded him. James sighed.

"He acts like he does."

"Yes, but that is exactly what it is. An act."

"He should know he doesn't have to act around us."

"He knows you want him to be encouraging. So he's being encouraging, because worrying and being nervous isn't going to do him any good."

"I want him to be himself."

"He is being himself, James. That's just how he is."

"Ya, I guess I know that, I just don't like him hiding stuff from us." James said ending the conversation and tuning to watch Sirius try out. He was really good and obviously had a lot of practice. James wasn't worried about him getting on the team. He was much better than all the others.

Sirius landed beaming with genuine happiness not too far from them.

"Great Job Si!" James exclaimed giving him another high five.

"Thanks!" He said beaming. James agreed with Remus, Sirius had definitely been nervous.

"Yay! Tryouts are over, so we don't have to be careful with our pranks anymore!" James cheered, not long after the captain told everyone that he would post the results by tomorrow morning.

"Let's go celebrate." James and Sirius smirked at each other and walked off to find (hex) the closest Slytherins to celebrate.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next day they came down to the common room and were surprised to find it was crowded with mostly unhappy people. They found Frank and Alice on the couch.

"What's going on?" James asked when they managed to make their way to see them.

"The Quidditch captain put out the list of who got on the team." Frank answered them.

"Oh really?"

"I've already seen it." Alice told them. "You both made it."

"YES!!!" James and Sirius said at the same time.

"Did you get in Alice?" Remus asked.

"No, but I'm glad I didn't." James and Sirius looked at her in horrified shock.

"Why?"

"I don't really think it's worth spending all my time at practices and stuff. I'm not really as in to the game as some of the other people who tried out." She said honestly.

"I don't think I'll ever understand you non-Quidditch people." James said shaking his head.

"That's good, because us normal people will ever understand you mental people." Frank answered for her with a smirk. "At least we're even now." Sirius and James laughed.

"We like being misunderstood. It makes us feel special."

"Potter! Black!" They turned around and saw the Quidditch captain.

"Ya?" James replied proudly.

"First practice is tomorrow night." He told hem before wandering off to find the other team members.

"Yes!!" They cheered excitedly.

This year was going to rock!

A/N) Somehow I doubt anyone was actually surprised that they got in. It is a necessary chapter, but not really informative.

I decided to make Sirius not as self-confident as James because that is one of the main things people seemed to notice about James, but if Sirius was the same way then they would describe him the same way, but when he is described it is mostly about his trouble-making abilities.


	44. Practice and Late Night Talks

Chapter 44

Practice and Late Night Talks

Their first Quidditch practice was easy. Their captain mostly just reminded them of the rules, and their roles in the game. Then they just got used to having each other as teammates.

Sirius really liked the other beater on the team, Andrea Heifer. She had a great sense of humor. They spent most of the time trying to out do each other. They were trying to see who could hit the other with the bludger first. It ended in a tie, neither of them had gotten hit.

James and the two other chasers, Ryan Ault and Dylan Johnson tossed the ball around between them. It became clear that Dylan was the weakest link, but he was still pretty good.

After a while the captain told the chasers to practice with the keeper, Jason Hoffman. He was really good, caught all of them but James' and he even caught two of those.

Sirius teasingly hit a bludger towards the goalposts to see if Hoffman would try to block it. The sixth year just watched it.

"What was that?" He yelled when the bludger nearly went in a goalpost. It missed by about a foot.

"I was curious to see if you would block it." Sirius said with a smirk after flying over to him. "I also wanted to see if I could make it in."

"That isn't what you're supposed to be doing, Black." He said half glaring at the younger boy.

"It was fun." Sirius replied, James laughed watching their conversation. "You didn't even try."

"Why would I try? I'm not blocking bludgers."

"To try testing your skill. Duh."

"That isn't your job, Black."

"You're no fun." Sirius pouted. Hoffman rolled his eyes and Andrea giggled.

"I wanted to see you block it too." She added.

"All right! All right! C'mon let's get back to practice." The captain, Mathew Smith, called to them choosing not to comment on Sirius' behavior. He liked the kid's enthusiasm.

"Fine." Sirius replied chasing down the bludger and hitting it back to Andrea.

The rest of the practice was uneventful. When they were done they got back to the common room and found Remus and Peter playing chess. Remus looked extremely bored, Peter just looked annoyed.

"James, Sirius! You're back!" Remus said excitedly.

"What's going on?" Sirius asked looking amused.

"Peter is determined that he can beat me. We've played four games. I am so tired of this stupid game." He complained.

"Why don't you just stop playing?" James asked confused.

We're betting on it. I've won five bars of chocolate already." Sirius laughed.

"You're hopeless, Moony."

"I know."

Ten minutes later they were still playing the game. James fell asleep and Sirius got so bored watching Peter spend two minuets just to move and went up to the dorm to get a book and came back down.

He looked up from the book when Remus moaned. Sirius saw him mouth to himself 'nothing is worth this' before moving his king on a suicide move. Sirius chuckled quietly and turned back to his book, blocking out Peter's cheer as he finally won.

"Oh no, I lost." Remus said sarcasticly, but Peter didn't notice, he just ran up to the dorm excitedly.

"I saw that." Sirius said quietly knowing Remus would hear him anyway.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, and if you tell anyone I'll deny it." Remus replied throwing James' legs off the couch so he could sit down. Sirius just laughed and went back to reading. "I hate it when you read stuff like that." Remus told him reading the cover of the book.

"Why? We already know." He asked eyes not leaving the werewolf book.

"I don't know. I suppose I'm just worried you'll get some crazy idea of how to make it better." Sirius laughed.

"You know me so well." He looked at Remus with a smirk in his eyes. Remus glared at him and he laughed. "I promise I'm just curious."

"You better be, because I'm the one you'd be experimenting on and I don't take kindly to stuff like that."

"Did you know werewolves aren't dangerous to animals in the slightest?" Sirius asked.

"Ya, some of them even make friends with the animal. Though it's rare, they're very protective and aren't likely to give the animal a chance to get to know them before scaring them off."

"That's interesting. I'll bet the only reason they they harm people is because they taste good. Not because they want to or anything."

"I don't know about taste, exactly, but they spell good. Like in a food kind of way."

"How much comes out while they're human?" Sirius asked putting the book away.

"The senses mostly. They aren't as sharp, but stronger than the average human. Especially smell."

"Do people still smell like food?"

"Their smell stays the same, it's just how the mind interprets the smell. Food smell to me is like... well food. Food smell to a werewolf while transformed is people. It isn't that the smell changes, just the mind.

"Cool." Sirius replied thinking about the answer. "I bet people can be like that too. It's just a matter of what you're used to eating."

"I can promise you Sirius. There are very few people that are used to eating other people."

"But it's possible." Sirius replied ignoring that he was talking about cannibalism. "I wonder if it's possible to change what a werewolf is used to eating."

"Doubt it. You'd have to force them to eat something for a long period of time. I don't even think one time is possible, let alone multiple times."

"You're probably right."

They were quiet for a while before they both agreed that it was time for bed.

"James get up!" Sirius said once before pulling the couch cushions out from under him. "C'mon bed time."

"I was already asleep." James complained.

"Woops, sorry I thought you were impersonating a chain saw with all that snoring of yours." Sirius smirked.

"I don't snore." He said getting up. "Do I?" He looked at Remus desperately. They both laughed and ran up stairs.

"C'mon. Guys, I don't snore!" He said chasing after their laughing figures.


	45. THE RESTRICTED SECTION

Chapter 45

RESTRICTED SECTION

"I'm bored." Sirius complained. He leaned back in his chair. They were in Professor Slughorn's classroom. They were in the middle of detention with the Potions teacher when one of the Slytherins came into the room yelling something about their prefects being stuck to the ceiling of the Ravenclaw common room. Of course Peter wasn't able to hold back his laughter at Professor Slughorn's facial expression when he learned of their latest accomplishment, so they had to come back tomorrow.

Still, the only way he was going to see more then two of them was if Quidditch practice was suddenly canceled at the last minute. Naturally, the chance of this happening was so rare that James would have bet every thing his family owned against it. Matt, the coach, would have held practice even if there was a tornado on the field. He would probably use it to test their control over their broom, or something. Even if he slipped into a coma they would have practice without him in fear of what they would do to him if he found out they didn't.

To their surprise Remus didn't argue for a second when they skipped detention for practice. James figured Remus had just fallen in love with Quidditch. He was right, even Remus was surprised that he liked the game that much. Making them sit in detention wasn't worth risking a loss for the Gryffindor team, especially since they weren't 'learning their lesson' as the teacher's put it. What lesson they were supposed to be learning by sitting in a classroom for half an hour completely unattended was beyond them though.

"Why are we still here?" James complained.

"I told you, James. If you are good now there is a very little chance he will come find you on the Quidditch pitch tomorrow, because you know he is going to know exactly where you are." Remus answered his eyes not leaving his transfig homework. He was going to use the time he was stuck here wisely, and to his relief, Peter was doing the same. Sometimes, though rarely, he was glad Peter had no sense of individuality whatsoever. Though most the time he followed James and Sirius' examples every once in a while he would follow/copy Remus'. This was probably the only reason he ever passed a class.

"You think he'll come look for us?" Sirius turned around in his seat to look at Remus sitting behind him.

"You just glued his prefects to the ceiling. Of course he will."

"He did look mad enough when he walked out." James gave Sirius a thoughtful look.

"I don't know. It sure would be a shock if Slughorn actually went out of his way to enforce the rules." Sirius responded looking back at James.

"I think I'd rather not take the chance. Matt would kill us if we missed practice over a prank, you know how he spent half an hour making us promise that we wouldn't miss practice due to bad behavior."

"That was funny." Sirius chuckled.

"Speaking of pranks..."Remus started with a rare smirk. "Halloween is four days away."

"Got any ideas, Moony?" James asked

"None in the slightest, I was just reminding you." Remus told him. "And it's 'Do you have any ideas, Moony.'" He rolled his eyes. Sirius chuckled.

"Do you realize you just called yourself Moony?" They laughed as Remus blushed.

"I was just correcting him, not calling myself..." He started but Sirius interrupted him.

"Then why didn't you correct what he was calling you?"

"Because I knew it wouldn't help."

"And you think correcting his grammar is going to make him use it?"

"Shut up." Remus finished blushing harder. Sirius and James gave each other a high five while laughing.

"Admit it. You're starting to like the name." James continued to tease.

"Do not."

"Do"

"Don't"

"Do"

"Don't"

"Do."

"Don't"

"Don't"

"Don't...Ha You can't trick me like that!"

"Dang." Sirius burst out laughing.

"You two are so immature." James responded by sticking his tongue out at Sirius.

"I've never had anyone see though that before." He said.

"My dad does that to me all the time. After a while I learned."

"Darn." James responded.

"Changing the subject." Sirius warned."What are we going to do for Halloween?"

"I don't know, we are starting to get limited, now that they completely trust us." James complained.

"And they know that any mysterious writing is more than likely us."

"Hmm. You know masters like us should automaticly be able to figure it out."

"We could go to the library." Remus suggested.

"Ya, anyone would think the world was ending if we showed up in the library." Sirius laughed.

"No that's just you, and that isn't what I meant, you numskull. There are thousands of books there, at least one of them has to give us some ideas."

"Did you just call me a numskull?" Sirius asked but everyone ignored him.

"Moony, I know you love the library and never ever want to believe that it can't do everything for you, but allow me to crush that dream. I highly doubt there is going to be a pranking section of the library."

"I know that! And I am not in love with the library!"

"Oh please, you're practically married to it."

"I am not! I spend more time with you guys then in the library." Remus defended. Peter chuckled.

"Ohhhhh Remus is having an affair against the library with us!" James and Sirius burst out laughing, Sirius ended up on the floor. Remus banged his head on the desk.

"What's so funny boys?" James and Sirius instantly stopped laughing when a new voice was heard. They looked at the door only to find Professor McGonagall standing there with her hands on her hips.

"Remus is having an affair." Sirius said very calmly, causing James to burst out laughing. Remus sighed, stood up and whacked Sirius in the side of the head, before sitting back down. "Ouch." Sirius responded rubbing his head, making James laugh even louder.

"Why are you in Slughorn's classroom?" McGonagall asked choosing to ignore the rather disturbing bit of information.

"We are supposed to be in detention." Remus said glaring at Sirius. "But Slugbreath left in the middle of it." Sirius chuckled.

"Professor Slughorn! Remus I'm surprised in you." McGonagall reprimanded.

"What? What did I say?"

"You said Slugbreath, Moony." Sirius answered on the verge of laughing.

"I didn't! Crud sorry Professor. Sirius is starting to get to me." Remus apologized.

McGonagall sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Are you trying to tell me Professor Slughornjust left in the middle of your detention."

"Yes ma'am." Sirius answered. "He just up and left, he isn't good at giving detentions. Maybe you should fire him."

"I think I am going to have to have a talk with Horace." She shook her head. "What time is your detention supposed to be over?" Remus looked at his watch.

"Half an hour ago."

"Then why in Merlin's name are you still in here?"

"Because if we left now Slughorn would think we left when he did."

"Oh. Well in that case you may leave. I will have a word with Horace." She said moving out of the doorway.

"Yes!" Sirius exclaimed before running out of the room with James following soon after.

"Thank you Professor." Remus said and walked out of the room with Peter. They found Sirius and James waiting for them outside the room talking again about their next prank.

"I still think we should try the library guys. I mean it can't hurt." Remus told them once they caught up to the boys. Sirius shrugged.

"I don't mind."

"Alright let's go." James agreed and they headed for the library.

When they got there they really couldn't do more than roam. They had no way of finding what they needed to find. Even Remus, who had the place memorized, didn't know where to look.

Half an hour passed and they were finding nothing.

"Remus' dream has shattered." James said leaning against a bookshelf giving up. "The library has finally failed him."

Remus sighed and shrugged. "Nobody's perfect."

"I'm perfect."

"Shut up Sirius you are not." James rolled his eyes.

"You'll regret saying that when you find out what I've found."

"You found something!" James stood and looked at Sirius who was standing in front of a door.

"Yep."

"What?" James walked over to him curiously. Sirius didn't answer instead he pointed at some writing on the door.

**RESTRICTED SECTION**

"You think they will have something there?" James asked excitedly.

"If it's not there then it doesn't exist. I'm sure of it." Sirius answered.

"Guys, you know we aren't allowed in there." Remus said. They gave him an annoyed look for a moment. "I should have known you didn't care."

"Ya you really should have." Sirius said opening the door and going in. The other Marauders followed.

"What if we get caught?"

"Peter, just shut up." Sirius said rather rudely.

"Sirius, stop being mean to Peter. It isn't his fault. Peter why don't you stay out here and be a look out." James suggested, Peter quickly and happily agreed.

"Whoa, look at all these books! James get in here! They've got an entire section on killer plants!" James laughed and walked into the restricted section.

"We shouldn't be here. This stuff isn't legal, these spells can seriously hurt people." Remus told them looking though one of the books.

"Well we aren't going to pick something that can really hurt anyone. The Marauder aren't cruel. And since when have we cared about following the rules."

"These are laws, James. They're a bit more important than rules."

"Not really."

"Ya there is. You can go to jail for breaking laws."

"Only the really bad ones. We aren't going to kill anyone, or anything. No one is going to send us to Azkaban for pulling a prank on someone."

"What's Azkaban?" Remus asked causing James to sigh.

"The only prison for wizards. Only the really, really bad people go there."

"How do they enforce the laws then?"

"The don't. How do you think my family gets away with all the crap they do." Sirius complained.

"That's not true, the Blacks are just above the rules. Most people are just fined or something like that."

"That's unfair, no one should be above the rules." Remus said his opinion of the wizarding community was diminishing. Sirius sighed.

"Everyone is afraid of them. If you get one of them in trouble chances are that all, and I mean all, of them will get him or her out of trouble using bribery or threats. Then they will go and kill your family just because they can."

Remus looked at him in shock. There were absolutely no signs that he was over-exaggerating so Moony had to believe him.

"I thought they didn't care about each other?"

"They don't, they care about their image. They are very proud of their name, if one of them gets in trouble then they will be known as common criminals. They are above that title. It is dishonorable for them to get caught, and that dishonors the entire Black name. And that black, no pun intended, mark will stay in the family forever."

"Wow, that's really sad." Remus replied quietly. He closed the book and put it away. Sirius looked at James who was being uncharacteristicly quiet.

"What's wrong?"

James looked back at Sirius and worded his answer carefully knowing he was treading on painful ground for Sirius.

"I don't get it." he said quietly. "If they're so uptight about fixing each others mistakes, why didn't they try to do that for you?"

"They did." Sirius looked at the ground as he spoke. He hadn't really wanted to tell them about that. "At first they tried to get Dumbledore to try to re-sort me. He completely refused, he is one of the few that isn't afraid of them. Since that didn't work they tried to get me transferred, but I have to be willing and I'm not.

"All summer they tried to trick me into transferring to Durmstrang, but I'm smarter then I look. They gave up after a while." Sirius finished it was quiet in the room. Sirius still refused to look them in the eyes while he thought of the yelling fits his mother had thrown when he refused to transfer. They were trying not to think of how close they were to losing their friend. It was a good thing Sirius was so stubborn. After a while the silence became unbearable.

"Even if the punishment isn't that bad, this stuff is illegal for a reason." Remus said breaking the silence and changing the subject. Sirius chuckled halfheartedly.

"Ya because some stupid wizard used it for a stupid reason and the stupid ministry needed a reason to stop them."

"But..." James continued for Sirius. "We aren't stupid wizards, and we aren't using them for stupid reasons."

"Only if you swear no one will get hurt." Remus said wearily.

"We promise." They replied at the same time, before going and looking though the books, yelling random ideas that quickly got shot down each time.

"Hey guys look at this." James called out to them and they stopped what they were doing and jogged over to him.

"What is it?"

"It's a potion. It causes the drinker to live though their worst nightmare for an adjustable amount of time." James said showing them the book.

"Brilliant!" Sirius said giving James a high five.

"Problem." Remus told them. "We don't have all the ingredients for it."

"What are we missing?"

"Frog's toes and rat fur."

"Slugbreath keeps some of those in his storage cabinet. At leas he did when he made me organize it last year."

"Wasn't that your first detention?" Sirius asked.

"Ya, but chances are when he runs out he will restock them. They are pretty common ingredients for advance potions."

"Advanced potions?" Remus repeated a little worried. He was really bad at potions.

"It's no big deal, Moony."

"Are you suggesting that we steal the ingredients?"

"Yep." James said happily.

"I'm not doing it."

"I will." Sirius replied excitedly. Ever since they found out Remus was a werewolf Sirius' dislike for Slughorn had increased tenfold.

"Ok. So we need to think of a safe place to brew it."

"Actually I think we should tell Peter next." Remus said, reminding them that there wasn't only three Marauders.

"Oh, right. Let's go." James said heading for the door. Remus closed the book and he and Sirius followed.

They were surprised when they got back to the library and Peter wasn't waiting for them. Sirius sighed. He was getting rather tired of Peter.

It actually wasn't that hard to find Peter. All they had to do was follow the path of overturned bookshelves. Needless to say they were rather worried by the time they found him cowering in a corner with three Slytherins surrounding him.

"Gosh Peter, we can't leave you alone for ten minutes without you getting into trouble." James said before he and Sirius pulled out their wands. Remus decided to stay out of it knowing that they could do fine without him.

"You lot have five seconds to clear off." Sirius threatened. The Slytherins hesitated for a moment. "Five, four, three, two..." The Slytherins didn't wait for one before all three of them attacked.

"Protego!" Sirius smirked as the Slytherin's spells backfired.

It wasn't a long fight. The Slytherins were outmatched in every way. They didn't stand a chance.

"Come on Peter, let's get out of here." James said stepping over a petrified Slytherin.

"R-Right thanks." Peter replied quickly.

"I thought you spent all summer learning new spells?" Sirius questioned.

"I-I forgot them all."

"Then why did I waist all summer teaching you?"

"Sorry."

"Let's just go guys." Remus told them. "Everyone get scared sometimes and this was three against one remember?"

"I guess so." James said and turned to leave the library. "We got our prank, Peter."

"Really? What is it" Peter said delighted at the change in subject.

"We'll tell you when we get to the dorm. We don't want to be over heard." James told him as Sirius gave the Fat Lady the password. They ignored everyone in the common room and went straight for the dorm.

James showed Peter the book and described the potion to him.

"We should get the ingredients now. The book says it takes a few days to brew." Remus told them.

"I'll do that now." Sirius said and left the room.

"He really doesn't have a problem with thievery does he." Remus thought out loud.

"You have to remember, Moony, he's a Black. Compared to what most of them are willing to do, thievery is a act of kindness."

"I know, I just forget that a lot." Remus sighed and James chuckled.

"That and he really hates Slughorn."

A/N I really didn't like this chapter. Not because it was bad, it was just really hard to write for some reason. I wrote this once and then scrapped most of it because I hated it. That's why I haven't updated in so long. I was dreading trying to rewrite this chapter, so I kept putting it off. Sorry about that. I don't know why it's so hard, maybe I just have writers block or something.


	46. Return of the Room of Requirement

Chapter 46

Return of the Room of Requirement

Sirius was really wishing he had brought James' invisibility cloak.

He was sitting in a secret tunnel they had recently found, and was waiting for the DADA teacher to stop chatting with the Muggle Studies professor. They were both standing in his way and he wasn't sure if it was worth sitting here for an hour just to keep the shortcut a secret.

Sirius sighed with relief when they finally left and he was able to climb out of the hole. He headed stealthily towards Slughorn's office, it wasn't that he wasn't allowed to be here, he just didn't want any questions, and of course he just liked sneaking around.

When he got to the potions classroom he was annoyed to find that Slughorn was still in it. Along with a few Slytherin first years. Sirius didn't need to see his face to recognize Regulus was among them.

"You wanted to talk to us, Professor?" He heard one of them say.

"Ah yes, I noticed the talent each of you had in my class. Of course I wasn't surprised. I could tell each of you had talent from the moment I laid eyes on you." Sirius snorted. Ya, if talent meant they had connections then he was bang on. "I am having a little get together with the most talented students in he school. I would like to invite the three of you to come."

"Who all will be coming?" Regulus asked looking a him with suspicion in his eyes. Sirius wasn't surprised, Regulus was a Black, the Blacks were much more important then puny Slughorn. No mere teacher would use a Black as a pawn. Blacks were the Kings and Queens, not the pawns. At least they were in their own heads.

"Oh not many, there are a few second years, some second years and a sixth and seventh year. I assure you, you will have no problem fitting in, not with the talent you posses." He said hoping flattery would help, it didn't really. Regulus wasn't a teachers pet. Sirius found himself distracted by trying to figure out who the second years were.

"I'll go." One of them said it almost sounded like a question. He obviously didn't want to go alone.

"Me too." The other one said watching Regulus. It amused Sirius to realize that Regulus was the leader of their little group. Sirius had never even considered Regulus as a leader. When they were younger Reg just followed him everywhere. Now he was watching other people follow Reg around. It was different, he was growing up, unfortunately he was growing up to be exactly like his family.

"I'll think about it." Regulus said quickly before turning around and heading for the door. Sirius managed to get out of the way fast enough that he wasn't seen. When they left Slughorn, thankfully, went into his office.

"Finally." Sirius whispered as he quietly walked into the classroom. He quickly grabbed the ingredients from the storage cupboard and then left.

When he got back to the dorm the others were waiting rather impatiently for him.

"What took you so long?" James asked he was holding something invisible in his hands.

"You wouldn't believe how much adults talk. What's in the cloak?"

"Our cauldron and the stuff we need, Remus thought of a good place we can do it without being found." James answered opening it so Sirius could put the new ingredients in.

"Where are we going?"

"The Room of Requirement."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that room."

"It's a good thing Remus didn't." James said and walked out the door while the others followed.

They were almost to the door when an extremely annoying voice called out to them.

"What do you want, Evans?"

"What are you up to now, don't think I'm not on to you. I know your planning something." Sirius laughed.

"Evans, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we've been planning something from the day we met. If you're just now catching on then there's something wrong." He told her causing James to laugh.

"If you're planning something on Severus again I'm gonna..."

"You're gonna what?" James called her bluff.

"I haven't got that far yet, but it's gonna be really bad." She said after a moment of thought. James and Sirius just laughed and walked out of the common room.

"Urg that girl! She thinks she knows everything!" James ranted, his rant continued throughout the halls until they got to the large picture of dancing trolls.

Sirius paced in front of the bare wall feeling really stupid as he talked about them needing a safe place to brew their potion. At first he didn't think it was going to work until the third time he passed it and suddenly the wall turned into a door. They smiled at it.

"I really like this room." James said to Sirius as they walked in.

"Me too."

The Room of Requirement this time around was pretty much empty. It had bean bag chairs laid out in a circle. They already had everything they needed so all they asked for was a place to brew the potion where they couldn't be found, and it couldn't be found as it had to sit overnight.

They sat in the bean bag chairs, and James laid his cauldron in the center. James and Sirius mostly worked on the potion themselves, Remus was bad with potions so he volunteered to read them the instructions, and they were just plain afraid to let Peter help. This would be used on everyone in Hogwarts after all, they didn't want to kill everyone.

After they added the rat fir they had to wait for it to brew for half an hour, which caused a problem.

"Um guys, we have transfiguration in ten minuets." Remus said looking at his watch.

"What!" James and Sirius exclaimed at the same time.

"We can't wait an hour to put the next ingredient in, it'll become useless!" James said flopping on one of the bean bag chairs.

"One of us will have to skip class, if we want to get this done. We don't have enough ingredients to start over. " Sirius said staring at the contents of the cauldron

"It can't be me. McGonagall would double check to make sure I'm sick. She doesn't trust me enough." James replied looking at Sirius.

"I'll stay." Remus told them. "Sirius can't afford to miss a transfiguration class. I think I can do it."

"Are you sure, James can always go over the stuff we learned with me." Sirius said a little worried, not that Remus couldn't do it, but that Remus would start to worry too much and end up messing it up.

"Ya, there's a full moon tomorrow night, it will be really easy for her to believe I'm sick." Remus told them, rereading the potions book.

"Oh is it?" Sirius said masking his concern with curiosity. Remus just nodded. James sat up and he and Sirius began going over what Remus needed to do before leaving for class.

It took Remus a full five minutes to realize that he was skipping class for a prank. He moaned and flopped down on the bean bag chair. He was beginning to think that he was a completely different person than he was when he got on the train last year. He was skipping class for a prank and using his lycanthropy as an excuse.

His mum would faint if she found out.

There was no doubt now, not that there had been much before, that he was changing. Some changes he knew were for the better. He was becoming much more open, and not just with the Marauders. More than once he'd walked up to Frank Longbottem just to talk, he didn't even know Frank. Sirius and James had a few conversations with him so for some reason Remus instantly felt comfortable with him. He had even had a full blown conversation with Lilly Evans. James and Sirius wouldn't be caught dead having a conversation will Lilly, but Remus talked to her anyway. Though she started the conversation, unsurprisingly with a complaint against James and Sirius. They somehow ended up talking about D.A.D.A. Remus is pretty sure it is because that is the subject she was studying at the time, but isn't positive.

Some changes he wasn't so sure about, like the one he was enforcing right now. James and Sirius would have done it, and they weren't bad people, and like Sirius said, where's the fun in life if you can't break a few rules. This though, felt like it was worse than a few rules, it felt like he had just become one of the 'bad kids' his mum had warned him about when he was younger. Not that he'd ever really had a chance to meet one of the 'bad kids'. Since due to to his lycanthropy he couldn't go to muggle school. He would miss to much due to to his illness around the time of the full moon. The teachers would have started to ask questions if he missed at least two days every month.

Sometimes his mum would take him to the park and he would meet 'friends' there. He would see them for two hours then they would have to go home and he would never see them again. After a while some of them would make fun of him for various reasons, his paleness, the scars, his gray hairs, which thankfully Sirius hadn't noticed yet or he'd probably try some freaky spell to fix it and end up turning it purple or something. Those that didn't make fun of him wouldn't talk to him in fear that they would get made fun of too. By the time he was seven he was begging his mum to not make him go, and he never went again.

A loud ringing went off and interrupted his thoughts. Remus heaved a deep sigh.

"Please don't let me screw this up." He said to the air before starting on the potion.

He was worried when it turned out the color it was supposed to. At least if it turned out a completely different color he would know something was wrong with it, now he was just worrying. He reread the potion book three times and didn't find anything he missed or couldn't think of anything he didn't do right so he just stirred it like the book said. Hoping that James and Sirius would be able to figure out if he messed up. After stirring he sat and waited for them to come back.

It may have been because he was worrying but it seemed like it was taking them a lot longer than an hour to come back. It seemed to take forever for James and Sirius to rush though the door of the Room of Requirement.

"There you are!" Remus said standing up as they rushed over too him. "What took you so long?"

"We got out as soon as class was over, Moony. We even ran most of the way." James told him looking at his watch.

"Ah you were probably just really bored, so it seemed like it took longer." Sirius waved it off and rolled his eyes as Peter walked in looking as though he'd just run a marathon.

"Ya, probably." Remus hesitated "How bad did I screw it up?" He pointed to the cauldron and James sighed. He looked at it and read the potion book.

"It looks fine, Remus. It's the right color and everything."

"Are you sure?"

"Moony, why can't you just accept that you did everything right." Sirius teased throwing an arm around Remus' shoulder.

"Because chances are, I didn't."

"Well the chances are wrong this time. You did very well, Slugbreath would be proud." James winked at Remus.

"Very funny, James." Remus said sarcastically.

"Ok what do we do next?" Sirius asked James. He didn't feel like bending down to read the book that was on the floor.

"Nothing. We just wait for it to turn purple, which should be about six o'clock tomorrow."

"Please tell me that's six pm and not six am, tomorrow's Saturday. I don't want to get up at six on a Saturday."

"It's pm."

"Yes!" Sirius cheered.

"We should get back to the dorm, we need to grab our books for our next class." Remus said looking at his watch. James and Sirius nodded as they left the Room of Requirement. Sirius looked back at the potion before closing the door.

"This Halloween is going to be awesome."

A/N) Sorry for the long wait. This time I have a valid excuse though. I've been sick. The last thing I wanted to do while sick was type.

(BTW) Never get sick while on vacation, it really really reallllllly sucks.


	47. Responsible Marauders?

Chapter 47

Responsible Marauders?

Six o'clock pm the next day found the Marauders back in the Room of Requirement, trying to figure out how many newt eyes to add to the potion.

"I say we add five." Sirius told them.

"Would you want to be living though your worst nightmare for five full minutes. I think one would be enough." Remus argued. Newt eyes was the only customizable ingredient in the potion. The more you put in, the longer the affect would last.

"One! Please a minute is like.." Sirius snapped his fingers to show just how short he felt it was.

"Not when you're living though your worst fear." Remus told him and Sirius was about to make a response before James interrupted.

"Guys, enough. We aren't going to fight over this. Remus is right Sirius, time moves a lot slower when you're scared, I think he of all people would know that."

"Are you kidding you're really going to add only one."

"Fine if you think it's such a short time you can be the one to test it." Remus sugjested with a smirk.

"Test it? You mean the fact that it's the perfect color and stuff isn't enough to prove it works?"

"We need to test it, Sirius. It would be irresponsible to not." James answered for Remus.

"When did we become responsible? Remus skipped class for this for Pete's sake. No offense Remus."

"You're testing it Sirius, just deal with it. If you still think it isn't long enough afterwords then we will add some more." James told him smiling at the relieved look on Peter's face. He had been worried they would all have to test it.

"Wait, how did I get volunteered for this again?"

"You don't think it's long enough, remember?" Remus said watching James place the newt eye in the potion.

"No." He said worryingly, his face becoming paler and paler as James stirred. Remus just chuckled evilly, none of them even knew he had an evil chuckle.

"I think it's done."

"Are you sure? There isn't any thing else we have to do to it is there?"

"Sirius you probably want to get it over with as fast as possible."

"Why can't we force feed it to Snivellus. Then we would be testing it without actually trying it." Sirius looked at it like it was going to try to eat him.

"Then Snivellus would know we're the Marauders."

"We could erase his memory."

"You don't know how to do a memory charm yet, Sirius, and don't try and tell us you do." Remus reminded him.

"Come on Si. You're braver than that."

"I never claimed to be brave. I only got in Gryffindor because I refused to be in Slytherin." Sirius complained, but closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Ok fine, I'll do it."

"Good, 'cause you didn't have a choice." James told him. "I need a cup."

"Oh darn, we didn't bring one. Guess we'll won't be able to test it."

"Sirius, were in the Room of Requirement." James reminded holding up a small cup.

"Crud." Sirius watched with dread as James put a very small amount into the cup and handed it to him.

Remus had to force himself not to laugh when Sirius gave out a little puppy like whimper.

"If I die, tell everyone that I snuck into the forbidden forest." He said, before Remus could tell him he wasn't going to die James asked him why. Sirius just shrugged and closed his eyes before drinking the potion.

"I can't believe he actually did it." Remus said staring in shock as Sirius' body went stiff and his eyes flew open.

"Me either, I thought we were going to have to find some Slytherin to do it." James was watching with wide eyes as Sirius began to shake. "I know I wouldn't have done it."

Remus stared at his watch, not willing to watch Sirius, and exactly one minute from the time Sirius drank the potion they heard him scream.

They wanted to hold him at tell him it was over but they couldn't move. They'd heard him scream in fear before, but it was nothing like that. Sirius was lying on the ground shaking like there was no tomorrow. He seemed to collapse, but he was clearly still conscious.

James was the first to recover, he picked up Sirius and hugged him. Remus quickly followed, telling himself over and over that this had been a really really bad idea.

It took a few seconds, seconds that felt like hours, before Sirius seemed to realize where he was.

"James?" He said quietly.

"Sirius are you okay? I didn't expect you to really drink it. I'm sorry!" James replied talking a little too fast. It took Sirius a few moments to understand what he was talking about.

"Ohhhhhhh. The potion. Okay, now I remember. Dang that was scary." Sirius sat up, so he wasn't leaning on James anymore.

"Sirius, we really didn't expect you to drink it." Remus told him.

"It was you're idea." Sirius accused lightly. He was really just happy to see them.

"I was joking, Sirius. It was a joke, I didn't mean it!"

"Calm down. Don't have a heart attack, Remus. I've already watched you die too many times today." Sirius said as though that was the most normal thing in the world to say. Remus moaned.

"You watched me die?" He knew he shouldn't have been surprised, you couldn't be friends with Sirius for very long without knowing how protective he was over his friends.

Sirius blushed a little, he hadn't actually planned on telling them that. "Both of you actually, Peter was already dead." With that information Peter finally fainted. He'd been threatening to ever since Sirius drank the stuff. "My mother did it." Sirius added quietly. James hugged Sirius.

"I'm sorry, we shouldn't have suggested you drink it. We didn't even really need to test it that much."

"James, it's okay, really." He said trying to squirm out of James' embrace, feeling really embarrassed. "It's not like I've never seen it before." James let go and he and Remus looked at him in confusion.

"What?"

"Nightmares. Guys I have them all the time. I mean they aren't exactly the same, and that was scarier than any of them, but I figured you guys would have known that."

"I thought they were of her hurting you."

"Very rarely. If I was afraid of her hurting me I wouldn't be willing to live with her." He said trying to understand the guilty looks they were wearing, "But I wouldn't let you guys come within a mile of Grimmauld Place."

"So." James said changing the subject. "I'm assuming we don't need another newt eye?"

Sirius just looked at him with an annoyed facial expression. "Nope, don't think so."

A/N) And this is why the Marauders should never try to be responsible.

YAY a chapter that was easy to write! I'm updating it despite having updated already today to make up for taking so long to do it before.

This story is officially 200 pages long.

My reviewers rock! You can be one of them if you click the button! I only need 3 more before I have 100!


	48. The Teacher's Problem

Chapter 48

The Teacher's Problem

Despite Sirius' experience with this potion he and the other Marauders, including Peter who they learned how to revive thanks to the Room of Requirement, left very excited about the Halloween prank. They were going to add it to the food the house-elves were making tomorrow, as that was their only way of administering it during the feast. They entered their dorm talking excitedly about what was going to happen.

"I wonder what everyone is going to see." James said excitedly. "I wonder what Dumbledore will see."

"I wonder if we're ever going to find out."

"Shoot, I just realized that if we add it to the food then we won't be able to eat anything." Sirius told them.

"Crud, he's right." James said. He stood and paced, thinking a way around it.

"Why don't we just add it to the pumpkin juice? Everyone drinks it. And we can pretend to a lot easier." Remus suggested giving James his best fake smile.

"Ya that will work." James said excitedly. "What do you think Sirius?" James turned to Sirius who was now looking out the window with a somber look on his face. "What's wrong?"

Sirius didn't turn to look at James, instead he looked at Remus.

"The sun's about to go down." He told Remus. James gave them a look of pure confusion, but Remus understood.

"I should probably go." He hadn't needed Sirius to tell him, he could feel it. He'd been doing his best to ignore how sick he was feeling, but Sirius must have noticed. Remus stood stiffly.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Sirius asked. James was still confused, just a second ago everyone was excited.

"No, I'd really rather you didn't."

"Where are you going to go?" Sirius asked, moving out from the window. James went to peak out, trying to figure out where Remus was going. He finally realized what was going on when he saw the full moon in the sky.

"It's a long story. I should really go, ask me later, you might be able to convince me to show you." He said happily, even this close to a transformation they were still worried about him. That meant they really did care. Remus was surprised when Sirius and James both gave him a hug, as gently as they could, knowing he was probably sore.

When they pulled away Sirius chuckled at the blush on Remus' cheeks. Remus turned and left the room.

"We should probably get some sleep, I want to be up as early as possible to visit Remus in the hospital wing." James suggested searching his trunk for pair of pj pants and stealing a pj shirt from Sirius.

"How can you sleep knowing he's out there like that?" Sirius asked him, ignoring James' 'thievery'. They steal clothes from each other a lot. One of Sirius' favorite shirts was one he stole from James and never gave back.

"I guess I'm pretty good at blocking stuff like that. Sirius, standing there staring out the window is not going to help anyone any. At least if you sleep, you'll be in a better condition to help him feel better tomorrow." James told him, climbing out of the curtains on his bed and putting his dirty clothes, with the rest of them. He assumed the house-elves washed them.

"I know that. That doesn't mean I can just lay there and pretend it isn't happening though." Sirius almost sounded angry. James just ignored it, he knew Sirius wasn't angry at him, he was just angry at the fact that they couldn't do anything to help.

"I'm turning out the light Sirius, are you sure you're not going to try to sleep?" James sighed and blew out the candles lighting the room when Sirius nodded.

Sirius was still staring out the window when the sun was completely gone. He'd seen Remus run across the yard and, though he couldn't tell how from this high up, made the womping willow stop moving before climbing into what seemed to be a hole in the ground. Sirius continued to stare out the window for several more seconds before he determined that both James and Peter were asleep.

Sirius turned away from the window and grabbed James' invisibility cloak from under his bed. Sirius pulled it over himself before walking out of the dorm. He walked though the portrait of the Fat Lady, ignoring her when she tried to figure out who was there and went all the way down to the entrance hall.

He knew he should have left the cloak on, but he didn't care. He didn't care if one of the teachers found him out after curfew. Actually, part of him wanted to get caught. He wanted to get yelled at. He deserved it, he should have figured out a way to help Remus by now. He shouldn't be sitting at the open front doors glaring at the womping willow with tears running down his cheeks. How was this helping, it would only make Remus feel worse if he knew.

But Sirius couldn't leave. What else could he do? No matter what James said there was no way he would ever try to sleep while Remus was tearing himself to pieces. No possible way. He couldn't even imagine it. The library was closed and locked, so there was no way of going in there to find some way to help.

There was no way to help, there was nothing he could do for his friend. So he sat, Sirius sat as his vision blurred from the tears.

He couldn't help but feel he deserved the pain, that Remus was going though.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

At first she wasn't really sure she had seen him.

But when she was she was furious. How many times had she told him off for being out after curfew. Black was never going to learn was he!

It was a miracle he didn't hear her. Maybe he just ignored the sound of her storming over to him.

It wasn't until she walked into the moonlight illuminating from the doorway that she started to get curious. She stopped walking towards him and watched him for a moment. He was just sitting there, for no reason whatsoever. Normally she would find him sneaking to the kitchens with James to steal some food, or off to glue the Slytherins to their beds or something of that nature, how they even managed to get into the Slytherin common room was beyond her.

This time James wasn't even with him. Actually now that she thought about it, this might be the first time she'd seen one without the other, not including detentions when she split them up, naturally.

She walked slowly up to Sirius, who still didn't seem to notice her. The first thing she noticed was that he was crying. This fact alone alarmed her. He and James hadn't gotten into a fight had they? It would explain why he was alone. She barely had time to concentrate on this theory before noticing what he was staring at. The womping willow. She didn't have enough time to ponder the willow's part in this before noticing how bright it was for being nearly midnight. That was all the information she needed to figure out exactly what was going on. There was a full moon out. They had just figured out about Remus' condition last month. This was the first full moon that Sirius had known about from beginning to end.

McGonagall sighed. Sirius didn't give any sign that he had heard her, so she assumed he was just ignoring her. She knelt down beside him.

"Black, you know you shouldn't be out here." She said calmly. Sirius just held on to his knees tighter. It was hard watching such a strong young man looking so weak.

She wasn't exactly sure why she did it. It wasn't like he was her child or anything. She had no idea what on earth possessed her to put her arm around her and pull him into her chest like a mother comforting her child. She really hadn't even realized she did it until he pulled his arms away from his legs and sat on his legs instead.

What was wrong with her? She had seen students cry before, she'd had to tell students they'd just become orphans before. Sure, she wanted to comfort them. She would even give them a little hug, but she had never held a student like this before. This wasn't the way teachers treat students, this was the way parents treat their children. So why couldn't she make herself let go? Why did her arm instantly begin to rub his back? How was he ever supposed to take her seriously as a teacher when she couldn't even tell him off for being out after curfew? Why did she find that she didn't really care if he took her seriously as a teacher when he started sobbing into her cloak?

"I'm sorry, Sirius." She told him quietly, using a student's first name for the first time in her teaching career, and for the first time he spoke. She could barely understand him.

"It should be me." He mumbled though heavy sobs. She couldn't respond for a very long time. Why in the world would he want that for himself?

"Why?" Was all she could say, when she could respond. She didn't really expect him to answer her.

"He doesn't deserve it." He replied having to pause to catch his breath in the middle of the sentence.

"What makes you think you do?" She asked, talking seemed to be helping him feel better.

"I should be helping." He said hiding his face even deeper into her cloak. "I shouldn't be sitting here bawling..." He said sobbing even harder. "I should be helping."

She sighed. She'd figured out a lot about his personality, with that one conversation. He had very little patience with himself, especially when it came to his friends safety.

"There is nothing you can do to help, Sirius. You can't go anywhere near him right now." She told him, knowing it wouldn't help, but what else was she supposed to say to someone who wanted to help a werewolf. Sirius didn't even respond. She tried again.

"Don't you know that you are helping? I won't claim to have known him very long, but I have met his parents. Remus has never been happier in his entire life. You're helping him very much." It was a while before Sirius answered.

"He's in pain." He said slowly, the sobbing for the most part had stopped, but despite the fact that she couldn't see his face, she knew he was still crying. "I don't care if he's happier. He's in pain now."

Another piece of Sirius' personality clicked into place. McGonagall figured that by the time this night was over she would probably have the entire puzzle completed.

Sirius didn't think it was worth that much to be friends with him. He thought Remus would rather not have to go though the pain of the transformation, even if that meant he couldn't be friends with Sirius anymore. It didn't matter how much he needed his friends, if giving them up would keep them not just safe, but comfortable and reasonably happy, he would do it. This was not something she was expecting to find out about him. She knew he'd give his life for them, but not to this extent. She had always thought him to be very proud and arrogant, and in public he was, but what he was like in private, was clearly a completely different story.

This puzzle piece scared her. This was the personality of someone who would die needlessly just because he could think of no other way of helping.

She pulled him away from her chest and forced him to look her in the eyes.

"Sirius. Promise me something." She said choosing her words carefully. "Promise me that if you get any ideas on how to help Remus, you will tell him before you put them to use. No matter what you think he'll say." She decided on this promise. She knew Remus would not let him do anything stupid, or even remotely dangerous. "And you'll listen if he tells you it's a bad idea and you shouldn't do it." She added as an afterthought. Sirius didn't respond for a while.

"I promise." He said in a small voice. McGonagall nodded and hugged him back to her chest. He continued to cry, though the sobs were over. He had clearly tired himself out, but he didn't fall asleep.

And when the sun when up McGonagall told Madam Pomfrey that she and Sirius would go down and get Remus so she didn't have to. She agreed, though she was rather confused.

McGonagall stayed with Sirius until James and Peter came running into the hospital wing.

The last thing she heard from the foursome was Remus telling James and Peter that instead of Pomfrey, the first person he saw when he woke up was Sirius.

McGonagall smiled, she wondered if Remus would ever realize just how good of a friend he had.

A/N) Wow that had to be the easiest chapter I have ever written. It was like my mind already had it written before I even finished the last chapter.

I was planning on putting this in the last chapter, but then I got more into detail with them testing the potion then I had planned. I couldn't put this one with it. This story could not share plot-lines with any of the others. It had to be on it's own. That's how important this chapter was to me.

I don't know if you noticed or if I'm imagining it, but the the last chapter seemed like it lacked a solid ending, like it was a beginning and middle, but that was it. This is why it did that.

The only thing I had trouble with was describing part two of her figuring out his personality, I was a little worried that would get confusing.

I worried a little that Sirius was getting a bit out of character until my mind made me write about how she was worried he would die. Then I realized that that is exactly how he did die in the books. Going to the ministry of magic was really really stupid of him, but he had no other way of helping Harry that he could think of, so he did it anyway.

Wow this authors note is way too long. So I'll end it now. Thanks again for reading and for going over the 100 mark of reviews! You guys are awesome!


	49. Scary Potions and Rainbow Roses

Chapter 49

Scary Potions and Rainbow Roses

"Sirius! Sirius wake up!"

Sirius jumped at the sound of James yelling from across the lunch table.

"I wasn't asleep." He said looking around to try and remember where he was.

"That's it, as soon as lunch is over you're taking a nap." James told him, going into big brother mode.

"I'm not tired."

"Please." Remus joined in quietly. He knew Sirius had been up all night because of him. He'd known Sirius would since Sirius hugged him last night. He also knew that if he acted all sad and stuff, that Sirius would in fact take a nap. Sirius was only hiding how tired he was because he knew Remus would think it was his fault. Really though, Remus couldn't bring himself to feel guilty. He felt guilty that he was pleased Sirius had been worrying so much about him, but other than that, he was really happy. He would be willing to bet that no other werewolf in the world had someone that would stay up all night worrying about them, ever, let alone on a full moon.

He didn't feel sad about it. He felt lucky, very very lucky.

"Fine, but I'm really not that tired." Sirius said pushing his plate away in case he dropped again. He was lucky his face missed his lunch the first time. He really was exhausted, he'd stayed up all night before, but only one other time had he done it while bawling his eyes out, and that was his first day 'home' from Hogwarts last summer, the day Regulus had abandoned him. He let himself sleep till noon the next day though. Crying tired him out, he figured that was because he didn't do it very often.

Sirius hadn't told them about meeting McGonagall last night. He couldn't imagine ever telling them that. They probably wouldn't even believe him, he was only half sure it had happened himself. The only proof he could think of was how tired he was. If it hadn't happened then that meant he'd fallen asleep and dreamed it, because he remembered it vividly. If he'd fallen asleep he wouldn't be this tired. That and she kept looking at him oddly, as though she was checking to make sure he was alright.

It also didn't hurt that Remus was absolutely sure that he'd seen Sirius when McGonagall magicked him back to Hogwarts. He saw her, but he remembers seeing Sirius first.

"Sure, Si. You just keep telling yourself that. We need you alert for the Halloween feast, you'll kill me tomorrow if we let you fall asleep in the middle of it." James told him.

Sirius chuckled tiredly. "Very true." He had to keep from closing his eyes or he'd fall asleep again. He felt James smack him upside the head, causing him to jump again. "I wasn't asleep yet." He complained, James was just using it as an excuse to hit him now.

"Oh sorry." He said smirking. Remus laughed turning away to try and hide it. Sirius gave him a knowing look.

"That's it, I'm going to bed, I'm not going to sit here and get smacked every time I close my eyes."

"I'll wake you up when the fun starts." James called out to him as Sirius walked away. Sirius responded with a thumbs up.

"He can't be doing this every month." Remus said looking at James.

"I don't understand, we've stayed up all night plenty of times. Why is this time so bad?"

"We stay up all night doing fun stuff. He was up all night worrying. It's always different. I didn't tell him this, but the first thing I noticed when I woke up in the hospital wing is that he'd been crying. He probably spent the entire night crying by the window or something. That takes a lot more energy then going to the Slytherin common room and making the chairs eat them." Remus said wisely.

"Okay, but that brings up even more questions. Like why he was crying then, when every time we see you in the hospital wing he's fine. Seeing someone in pain is always a lot worse then knowing they're going to be in pain."

"I don't know James. I really don't." Remus said picking at his food.

"Maybe it's different for Sirius." Peter suggested. James and Remus looked at him, telling him to continue. "Every time one of us had been in trouble he's been there." Peter looked at them as though he was surprised they hadn't thought of this themselves. "This is the first time he can't do anything to help."

James looked down at his plate. "He can't stand feeling helpless." It had never occurred to him before, but it fit perfectly. Sirius won't sit by and watch something happen. He has to be in on it, even when it's something that doesn't concern him at all, he's always looking for something to do, whether it's breaking up a fight, or cheering one of them on. It's why it's hurting him to watch Regulus grow up the way he was, because there is absolutely nothing he can do. He has to sit there and watch Regulus turn into a Black. It makes him feel helpless.

"It does fit doesn't it." Remus said, clearly thinking the same thing James was. "You're probably right, Peter."

"I can't believe I didn't see it. Look at the way he is with Regulus. Man it's like it's smacking me in the face. I should have figured it out." James complained. He didn't have anything against Peter, but he was Sirius' best friend. He should have figured it out on his own, not Peter. Sirius didn't even like Peter all that much.

"We should go, I think lunch is over." Remus said as the lunch room began to clear.

"Alright." James said and the three of them left. "What do you want to do until we need to wake Sirius up?"

"We have Potions homework to finish." Remus reminded him."Actually, Sirius still needs to work on that, it's due tomorrow."

"Eh, I'll let him copy mine, he needs to sleep." James waved it off as they entered the library. Remus sighed but didn't argue, James was right after all. Sirius really needed to sleep. Unsurprisingly the first one they saw there was Lilly Evans. She saw them too, and, also unsurprisingly, the first thing she did was run off to make sure Snape was alright. He followed her, looking rather confused, back to her table under the pretense that she needed his help.

James laughed when he realized she just wanted to keep an eye on him to make sure they weren't going to hex him or anything.

"Hey Snivellus! Don't you know most gentlemen protect girls, not the other way around!" He called. Snape looked up his face instantly turning to hatred.

"Will you stop it?" Remus asked, though too quietly for James to hear, before pulling James back behind a bookshelf in different sitting area.

James was still snickering when Remus pulled out his potion book and three pieces of parchment.

After they did their potions essay James decided it was time to wake Sirius up, though he made sure to stop everything he was doing to make fun of Snape again on the way out. James enjoyed the look of hatred that plastered on Snivellus' face every time he looked at James, and naturally he bragged about his recent Snape-bashing to Sirius as they walked to the Room of Requirement.

"Man I wish you could have seen his face, Si. It was priceless! You know the phrase 'a picture's worth a thousand words'. If I'd gotten a picture of it it'd be worth ten million words and at least a million galleons." James continued.

"James, no one would pay a million galleons to look at his ugly mug. No matter what facial expression he was wearing..." Sirius paused for a moment before continuing. "Actually you'd probably have to pay them a million galleons just to look at the picture." James couldn't respond to this, he was too busy laughing.

"Guys, you're about to walk right past it." Remus told them refusing to comment on their conversation.

"Oh, whoops." Sirius said as Remus opened the door. Their perfectly made potion was waiting for them. Remus and James poured it from the cauldron into a glass bottle, one that could hold any amount of liquid, that James had brilliantly thought to convince his parents that he needed. They then stuck that into James' bag so he could carry it without people seeing.

To no one's surprise, except maybe Peter who thought Sirius wasn't afraid of anything, Sirius refused to help them with this task. Though he made up for it by running up to the dorm to retrieve James' invisibility cloak that they had forgotten to grab when they were up there.

James went into the kitchen under the cloak to add the potion to the pumpkin juice.

"We still haven't decided who is going to talk to Dumbledore this time." Remus said offhandedly while they waited for James.

"I figured you were going to do it again." Sirius shrugged. "I did it all last year, not that I'm complaining."

"I thought James would want a turn." Remus said.

"Eh, he can do it next year. I like the way you do it, and you can't get away with only doing it once." Sirius teased.

"What's Remus trying to get away with?" James said pulling out from under the cloak.

"Oh I didn't see you come out. Remus is trying to get out of talking to Dumbledore."

"No I'm not, I just figured it would be best if all of us got a turn."

"You don't want to do it?"

"Sure I want to... Oh forget it." Remus began to defend himself, but realized they were just teasing him so he didn't bother.

"Good idea, Moony." James said smiling.

"We still have an hour till the feast, what are we going to do till then?" Sirius asked changing the subject.

"You still need to do your potions essay, the rest of us can study for our transfiguration test till you're done." Remus reminded. Sirius moaned.

"I don't think I can do it in one hour." Sirius complained as they headed back up to the common room.

"You can copy mine." James said ignoring the look on Remus' face. "It's not your fault you didn't have time to do it after lunch."

"Thanks, James!"

"What are you boys doing down here?" They turned around to see McGonagall watching them. They hadn't even gotten out of the dungeons yet.

"Um..." James tried to think of an excuse.

"We were going to sneak into the Slytherin common room, but we couldn't think of anything to do to them that we haven't already done." Sirius lied looking depressed, Remus had to force himself not to look at Sirius in shock. He came up with that lie in less then ten seconds.

"We're worried it's going to cause Sirius to fall into depression." James added, he was learning never to be shocked at anything Sirius does.

"Please don't tell me you expect me to sympathize." She told them. "Shoo, you have no business being down here, it's Sunday go do something productive with your lives and leave the Slytherins alone. Go outside, it's nice outside. Play around like kids your age are supposed to." She complained and walked away rubbing the bridge of her nose.

The Marauders stood there watching her walk away, with extremely confused looks on their faces.

"She seems rather agitated. I wonder what's wrong." Remus voiced everyone's thoughts.

"She looked stressed to me. She's working to hard." James said with a smile. "We should try to convince her to take a day off."

"Are you kidding? She wouldn't take the day off if she was sent to St. Mungo's." Remus told him.

"Let's go, we should probably be getting out of here anyway." Sirius told them and they resumed their walk to Gryffindor tower.

When they got there Sirius headed straight for the dorm.

"Sirius, where are you going?"

"Can I borrow your owl, Remus?" Sirius asked ignoring the question.

"As long as you don't take long, and bring a potions and transfig book, on your way back down." Remus answered, deciding not to ask questions.

Sirius didn't take long, he was down and back a lot quicker then they expected.

"What'd you do?" James asked.

"I needed to get a thank you gift for someone." He said, not giving them enough information to make sense. James looked at Remus and Remus shrugged before opening the transfig book and ignoring James as he gave Sirius his homework.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

McGonagall sighed as she headed back up to her office. As she had hoped a small snack in the kitchens had really helped her calm down. She only had twenty minuets till the feast started, but she needed to get her office cleaned up some. She had no less then ten animagi books scattered everywhere. She absolutely would not let some student walk in and see her office in such a mess.

When she walked into her office, though, the mess was the last thing she was thinking about. On her desk was a beautiful vase with a full bloomed rose sticking out of it. The rose itself is what amazed her the most. It was rainbow, it had clearly been enchanted to look that way. She had never seen anything like it.

She read the note tied to the string around the vase.

_Thank you for your help last night. You have no idea how much it meant to me._

_Sirius Orion Black_

McGonagall smiled. Trust a Black to do something overly extravagant for a thank you gift. If any of them could be bothered to say thank you for anything, that is. It probably cost a fortune, money didn't mean anything to them. Knowing Sirius he probably stole the money from them and they didn't even notice.

She put the rose in the center of the desk, making a mental note to check to make sure a non-wilting charm had been placed on it when she had more time, before proceeding to clean her office. Every few minuets she would look at the rose and smile again to herself.

There was no doubt about it now, this young boy was warming his way into her heart as no other student had before.

And to tell you the truth, she wasn't really sure she minded.

Though if you told anyone else that she would cheerfully transfigure you into a toad.

So don't tell.

A/N) Sirius mail ordered the rose. It was a store in Hogsmeade, that's why she managed to get it in less than 40 minuets.

I don't know if this is believable or not. It was a spur of the moment thing to have him thank McGonagall like that. I hope it wasn't too annoying of a chapter. It was another one without much point I think.

I need to clarify something, the only major pairing in this is James and Lilly, I may add some mentioning of the Lilly/Snape love triangle, and I may give Sirius and/or Remus an unimportant girlfriend when they get older, but it won't last and I'm not even sure if I'm going to do it at all.

There is absolutely no Sirius/Remus, Sirius/James, James/Remus, etc stuff going on.

I had someone mention that I was putting some Sirius/Remus hints in there and I want to make sure everyone knows it was purely unintentional and they're just best friends.

Ok I got that out of the way. Thanks to all of my reviewers! I have 100 of them now. It rox! I feel so loved you guys. Thanks sooooooooooooooo much.


	50. Trust

Chapter 50

Trust

"You know when you look at him it doesn't really look like he's only had like four or five hours sleep in the past twenty four hours." James said watching Sirius bounce up and down in his seat.

"You sound surprised." Remus teased, though Sirius was too busy trying to calm himself down to notice. It would look a little suspicious if he was this excited for no apparent reason. He was very unsuccessful, but no one ever bothered to question Sirius' actions anymore. There really was no point.

"How are we planning to make sure everyone drinks it?" Peter asked. James, Sirius, and Remus stared at him for a moment. "What? I've been wondering for a while now." He said blushing under their gazes.

"And you just now decide to mention it?" Sirius asked incredulously. "Why didn't you ask before?"

"I figured you had a plan!"

"If we did we would have told you, Peter! Why would we leave you out of it?" James answered for Sirius. Sirius looked like he was going to make Peter drink some of the pumpkin juice.

"Um. I dunno."

"Peter."

"What?"

"When the food shows up I'm hitting you with mashed potatoes."

"I suppose it's a good thing I'm perfect then." Sirius said ignoring James' childish threat. "I know just how we're going to do it."

"We? Clearly it's going to take magic I don't know." James said trying to figure out how Sirius manages to think of solutions to prank problems so quickly. It was like the boy was born to make as many people's lives as miserable as possible, and yet also make as many people as happy as possible.

"Oh right, Ya I mean me."

"I'm waiting till after right? We probably should be a little more thorough with our planning." Remus told them.

"Yes, to both questions." James said. Suddenly the food appeared. "Yes! Food!"

"Peter, are you a complete idiot! Don't drink that!" Sirius had to remind Peter reaching over the table and smacking the blond in the head.

"Um, I knew that." Peter slowly put the goblet down. Sirius sighed, before waving his wand over his own goblet.

"I"m making the pumpkin juice attack people..." He started but James interrupted him.

"Where in Merlin did you learn that?"

"Last year's charms text book, it was a lesson Flitwick skipped. I told you I got really, really, really bored last summer. My text books were one of the few books I didn't have to leave my room to obtain." Sirius explained quickly. "Any way, I'm having it attack us too so it doesn't look suspicious, be careful to keep your mouth closed, especially you Remmy. You have to be calm when you address the students and staff."

"Wow you must have been on the verge of insanity to actually read your textbooks." James told him, Sirius just nodded. Remus chuckled.

"Even I don't do that."

"You've never met my mother. You'd want to spend as much time in your room as possible also." Was all Sirius said in response, before muttering a spell while pointing at his drink.

Suddenly James was soaked, completely covered in pumpkin juice, and it was still coming. There were screams of surprise. At least they hoped it was surprise, who would actually be afraid of pumpkin juice. He though was being very careful to keep his mouth shut.

It wasn't long before the screaming, well by this time it was mostly just complaining, died away. Meaning that everyone had ingested the potion in one form or another. Even Dumbledore was stiff in his seat, seeing things that weren't really there.

"This is so much fun." James said excitedly. He looked and saw Remus was turned away from them.

_**That's the problem with mortals...**_

_**They tend to let their imaginations run wild.**_

_**Happy Halloween**_

_**The Marauders**_

Remus had a huge smile on his face.

"You're really loving this. Aren't you?" Remus just nodded.

When the screaming started they realized they probably should be pretending they'd been though it too.

"Ouch! Not so tight Sirius." Remus complained when Sirius hugged him making it look like he was afraid Remus would die. James chuckled.

"Dog pile, Moony." He whispered.

"What?" Remus explained as James jumped over the table and hugged him too. Peter shrugged at Remus before doing the same thing. "Why me?"He said struggling to breath.

"Because it's easy to believe we'd be afraid of you dieing. You're never properly healthy looking." James said chuckling. Remus moaned.

"Look at Dumbledore's face." Sirius whispered. They did, he was drenched in sweat and breathing very heavily.

"Your brother's staring at you, Si." Peter said offhandedly. Sirius turned around and sure enough Regulus was looking in his direction. He didn't turn away either, he just kept staring. He had a confused look on his face, like he was trying to figure something out.

"This is a potion!" They heard Slughorn calling to the other teachers. "I recognize the smell. Seemed to be placed in our drinks.."

Remus looked worried but the others didn't seem to mind.

"What if..." He started, but Sirius interrupted.

"What if what? Why does it matter if the Marauders can use potions? It doesn't really matter, it just means that they can use magic, but that's already obvious."

"What if they start to suspect it's a student?"

"And? What in the world would connect them to us?"

"I don't know. What if someone else get's in trouble?"

James answered for Sirius this time.

"We've already told them we've seen them. If they have a suspect they'll show them to us and see if they're right. Innocent until proven guilty."

"I guess so."

"Plus, they have no reason to suspect it's even a student. Let alone us." Sirius added.

"I know, I'm just being overly paranoid."

"Trust me we aren't surprised." James said with a wink. Remus just stuck his tongue out at him.

"You know, you would think by now that they'd be expecting something like that."

"Si, even when you volunteered to drink it..."

"I didn't volunteer."

"Whatever... even when we forced you to drink it, you were surprised by it."

"I guess so. Still though..." He said, but didn't continue, as though that really was all he needed to say.

They finished the feast in peace. The Great Hall remained in an eerie silence for the rest of it. It was as if they thought that talking would bring the visions back.

When they got to their dorm there was much laughter about individual facial expressions, before they finally went to bed.

"Do any of you guys know what you'd see if you drank some of the potion?" Sirius asked them before they could fall asleep.

"I'm not really sure. Probably something similar to what you saw though." James answered. "What about you, Moony?"

"Myself, I don't really know what I look like as a wolf so probably won't be exact. Chances are it would include me biting someone, probably one, or more, of you guys."

"Wow, kinda scary when the person you're most afraid of is yourself." James said, thinking out loud.

"Who else is there to be afraid of? All fears originate from one place, yourself. You're afraid of problems you can't fix. If you could fix it, then there would be nothing to fear. I'm afraid of you guys dying, you would be dying because I can't do anything to help you. Remus is afraid of biting someone, he'd only bite someone if he couldn't control himself. Basicly, I'm afraid of being helpless, and Remus is afraid of being uncontrollable. There really is nothing to fear besides yourself." James and Remus popped their heads out of the curtains.

"Wow, Si. That was surprisingly deep. I didn't even know you could go that deep." James said, only half teasing.

"It's something I think about a lot."

"Why?"

"Because I'm tired of being afraid all the time."

"So are you saying if that you trusted yourself completely, then you would never be afraid of anything?" Remus asked.

"Ya, because you would always be able to make things work the way you wanted them too. Everything would go right in your life, because you would make them."

"Sirius."

"What?"

"Did it hurt to think that much?"

"Yes, very much." Sirius answered James' question, causing them to laugh.

What Sirius hadn't told them was that it didn't matter, it wasn't possible to completely trust in yourself. But what he realized, was that you didn't have to. It's okay to be afraid, he didn't mind being afraid anymore, because he had three great friends that would help him get though anything.

He may not be able to trust himself... but trusting them, that was the easiest thing he'd ever done in his entire life.

A/N) I really hated this prank, it was really stupid. My brain isn't coming up with decent prank ideas, STUPID BRAIN. I promise the story will continue to be much better than my stupid pranks.

Wow if I keep this up this story is going to be really really long, how is anyone going to bother reading a story that's on it's 50th chapter and hasn't even made it to Christmas of second year yet. I might as well be writing a series of books.


	51. Preparing for their First Game

Chapter 51

Preparing for their First Game

Remus looked up from the book he was reading when he heard the door being pushed open.

"Sirius... James? What in the world took so long?" He asked, noticing the dead tired look on their faces.

"I really hate Smith." James walked over to his bed and collapsed into it.

"He made us all run laps because someone... don't know who... JAMES! Decided it would be funny to hex Hoffman, that's our keeper, by the way."

"He's a git, that's all I have to say." James defended.

"You tried to hex the keeper, the day before the match against Slytherin? Are you mad?" Remus asked, heavily annoyed. If James ruined their chance at winning the cup, Remus was never going help him with his homework ever again, or at least until he comes up with a better bribe then chocolate frogs.

"It wasn't anything dangerous!"

"Oh ya, because knocking them off their broom and making them fall nearly fifty feet isn't dangerous in the slightest. You're lucky Smith didn't kick you off the team."

"He wouldn't do that, I've never missed a goal. He'd have to be an idiot to kick me off." James said confidently.

"James when you become captain, then you can remove members from play. Until then you just have to deal with having him as keeper." Sirius told him calmly.

"Oh I will, and he's the first one that's going. Stupid git." James said forgetting the fact that by the time he was old enough to be captain Hoffman would have already graduated.

"What did he do?" Remus asked. It wasn't like James to get that angry at someone for something that wasn't important. Usually that was Sirius' job.

"He called Sirius a Black." James said giving the ceiling an evil look.

"Did he call him Black, or did he actually say a Black, because a lot of people think it's rude to..."

"No he said, and I'm quoting this. 'What the' he cussed here so I'm not repeating it ' is your problem' another foul word 'you're just like the rest of them.' clearly he wasn't talking about me or he would have just used my name. So I hexed him off his broom, or tried to anyway. Sirius blocked it, sometimes I wonder if he knows me a little too well."

"Well that explains why Sirius isn't bothered by it. Actually I figured that if any insult would make him mad it would be that one."

"Are you kidding? I don't think Sirius even understands the feeling of embarrassment. There isn't an insult alive that could shake him, not that was pointed at him anyway. Though he'd freak if any one of us were insulted in anyway."

"Hm.. I wonder why that is."

"He's the only person on the planet that really doesn't care what everyone thinks of him."

"I don't think that's it, maybe it does bother him, he just won't show it because he doesn't think it'll help."

"That's probably more likely then my theory." James said as Sirius walked out of the bathroom. "Why weren't you willing to use the bathroom when we were in the showers earlier? I forgot your excuse." Sirius rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at him.

"The're dirty." James gave him an unbelieving look and moved his mouth to speak, but Sirius interrupted him. "I live with an obsessive compulsive neat freak who would make me take an hour long shower if I even looked at a mud puddle and who would order Kreacher to bath me until completely spotless if I ever actually got the stuff on me. I think I have a pretty good excuse for hating anything dirty." He explained. They were silent, Remus was a little curious as to why he'd never mentioned it before.

"Why Kreacher?" James asked.

"Because she didn't trust me to do it myself. It worked, Kreacher has to obey orders, by the time he was done with me I couldn't touch my face for a week, it was rather painful. I never jumped in a mud puddle ever again."

James called Sirius' mother a name that he would never have said had there been a lady in the room. Sirius whistled.

"Didn't know you had it in ya, mate."

"Just because I don't make a habit of it doesn't mean I won't ever do it."

"Doesn't mean you will either."

"Sorry, Remus." James said.

"It's okay, I understand." Remus told them. Remus didn't like it when they cussed, successfully keeping Sirius' vocabulary decently clean, Sirius was way to much like his mother in that area. Remus wouldn't tell them off for it of course, and it had taken them a very long time to find out it bothered him.

"Let's go to the kitchens. I was starving before practice, you made us miss dinner, git."

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

The next morning was the first time they'd ever seen Sirius nervous. He was so nervous he couldn't even remember how to pretend he wasn't. It was also the first time they'd ever seen him not eat during a meal.

"Eat, Sirius." James said, unlike Sirius, James was completely calm. He'd slept very well, and was having no trouble eating. He wasn't even trying to find one of the older chasers hoping they'd give him tips. Sirius was even going as far as sitting beside last year's beater. He'd been pretty good but had stopped playing so he could spend the time studying for his N.E.W.T.S

"He's right. You should calm down, man." The seventh year said to Sirius. He was pretty nice, and really understanding of how Sirius was feeling right now. Though he couldn't help but laugh as Sirius glared at the food they'd piled on his plate.

"I'm afraid I'll puke." He said unashamed.

"How likely is that?" James asked trying to remain sympathetic, it didn't help that Remus was chuckling into his hands though.

"Happens every time I eat while nervous." James looked at him for a second before grabbing the plate from Sirius.

"Ya... I changed my mind, you aren't allowed to eat."

"Yay." Sirius mumbled putting his head in his hands. He moaned.

"Calm down, you'll be fine. It's the chasers that get the most injuries, not the beaters." The seventh year, that James just realized he didn't know the name of said to Sirius. Sirius gave him an annoyed look. James laughed.

"He isn't worried about getting hurt. He's worried he's going to suck really bad. Right, Si?" Sirius just nodded and Remus huffed.

"You should be worried about getting hurt. Why would anyone fly around fifty feet in the air on nothing but a broom to catch a ball?"

"Please tell me I didn't hear what I thought I heard." Said a voice from behind Sirius, he turned around and saw Andrea Heifer, the other Gryffindor beater, standing behind him.

"Hi, Andrea." Sirius moaned.

"Aww, someone looks nervous." She teased sitting down beside Remus, looking only a little uncomfortable next to the werewolf.

"I'm going to puke." He said slowly.

"Good thing I've got some protection." She smirked and hid behind Remus. Remus was blushing, no one outside of the Marauders had ever sat next to him before, let alone a girl.

"Trust me if I do puke it's going to be on James, he keeps rolling his eyes at me."

"Hey, it isn't my fault you have a horrible case of nerves, while I am the most perfect being on the planet." James said shrugging.

"We'll see how perfect you are after we get done with you." Someone else intruded on their conversation. It was two of the Slytherin teem members. They were Aro and Anneta Malfoy. Lucius' younger twin siblings. They were both chasers.

"Only one level of perfection. You can't be less perfect then perfect, or you wouldn't be perfect at all. And neither of you are even close to perfection." To their surprise it wasn't James that said this.

"Says you. Half blood." They gave Remus a threatening glare.

"You say that like it's some kind of insult." Remus smirked at them. "But I love my mother and wouldn't trade her for anything. And she feels the same about me... I wonder whether either of you could say that about your mother." They didn't answer just glared at him.

"Go Remus!" James cheered giving Remus a high five.

"Like I'd expect anything better from a Lupin. Daddy still trying to fix the damage he's done?" Aro said mockingly and Remus stood hoping to make him 'fix the damage' he was about to do to his face.

But Sirius got there first.

They just watched as Sirius beat Aro so bad that it made his twin cry in shame. Suddenly McGonagall and Professor Gilbert, the DADA teacher, pulled the two apart. McGonagall put a silencing charm on Sirius, who, naturally, was cussing up a storm.

"Why is it every time there is a fight one of the four of you are involved?" She asked struggling to keep Sirius away from Aro.

"It's because the Slytherins hate us." James said calmly, he sighed. He was never going to be able to catch up to Sirius' amount of detentions. Sirius had won their bet last year, and it was looking like he was going to this year also.

Thankfully Aro wasn't in bad enough shape to miss the game. If he had been, Gryffindor would have been disqualified. Which Smith did not forget to chew Sirius out for. He didn't stop glaring at his beater until they walked out onto the field.

"I know how to get rid of my nerves." Sirius whispered in James' ear as the captains shook, aka crushed, each others hands.

"Who doesn't love a fight?" James smirked and winked at Sirius as they pushed into the air.

"The snitch has been released and the GAME BEGINS!"


	52. The Greatest Game Ever!

Chapter 52

The Greatest Game Ever

"The snitch has been released and the GAME BEGINS!" The announcer yelled into the microphone, Remus was excited, watching Quidditch was great alone, but his two best friends were up there actually playing the game. It make it so much better to actually be rooting for someone you know, rather than just your teem.

"The Slytherin team seems completely made up of new members." The announcer told the crowd, then proceeded to name the new members. All of them but the keeper and one of the beaters was new. "While the Gryffindor team only has two new members, that's going to give them a huge advantage over the Slytherins." He told them causing the Gryffindors to cheer. "The new members seem to be an odd group. Who ever thought they'd see a Potter and a Black working together? AND DOING IT BRILIANTLY! Excellent distraction caused by Black allowing Potter the first goal of the game!" Remus cheered, Sirius had hit a bludger towards one of the goal posts, causing the keeper to think that they had thrown the quaffle from far away and went to try to catch it. James made it in easily.

"The Slytherin keeper really needs to pay more attention." The announcer observed, the Slytherins hissed at him. "Hey I just tell it like I see it." He said in response.

James gave Sirius a thumbs up, and Sirius did the same in return before going after another bludger. Smith seemed to have forgotten completely about Sirius' fight during breakfast as he was happily saying Sirius was so far the best beater he'd ever had, and if Sirius kept it up he might just kiss him.

Sirius was just hoping he was kidding. He hit the bludger at Aro, who unsurprisingly was his favorite target. Aro dodged nearly hitting his sister causing both of them to fall off Dylin Johnson's tail, who now felt it was safe enough to try to score.

"GRYFFINDOR SCORES AGAIN!" The announcer continued, but you couldn't hear him over the cheers of the Gryffindors.

Remus laughed as Peter jumped on his seat in excitement. They were both cheering. Gryffindor was creaming them, creaming them so bad that Slytherin had finally resorted to cheating. Their first penalty was one of the beaters tried to hit Andrea with their bat. She managed to dodge it but somehow the other beater's broom broke in half. Madam Hooch couldn't prove she did anything to it so she didn't get a penalty. The Slytherin beater was now trying to fly on only half a broomstick, it didn't look very safe, and it didn't seem to be going where it's rider wanted it to go anymore.

Smith had nothing to say about this, he seemed a little upset though. She had every right to be angry.

James smirked at the two chasers on either side of him, then he looked at the one on top of him. They were closing in on him. He considered diving, but the fact that Sirius was racing behind him a little under him told him that if he did that, chances are he'd be hit by a bludger.

Instead James tossed the quaffle behind him and turned sharply just barely missing the Slytherin beside him, he needed both hands to steer. When he was freely away from them he turned around and saw Sirius hit the bludger into the quaffle causing the quaffle to fly straight into Ryan Ault's hands, who despite a seconds hesitation in surprise raced down the field and shot another goal. That the Slytherin keeper just barely missed.

Gryffindor was unstoppable. By the time Smith had even caught a glance of the snitch Gryffindor was up 110 to 0. Slytherin was getting desperate. There was a ton of free throws giving to Gryffindor, none of them missed. The Slytherins were getting clobbered.

James was smiling so wide he felt as though it wasn't possible for him to ever frown again. There was no way they could loose, but that doesn't mean that he was going to hold back. They shot goal after goal after goal. Aro and Anneta looked harassed and insulted, and the captain, well the captain might as well have already fainted, he was barely even trying to hit the bludger anymore. He seemed to have completely given up. The keeper had given up, he wasn't blocking anything. The only ones that seemed to be trying was the seeker, Aro, and Anneta. Though Aro seemed like he was trying to put James and Sirius in the hospital wing, more than he was trying to win the game. Dylan passed the quaffle to James and just as James was going to take another goal the announcer yelled.

"GRYFFINDOR WINS! SMITH HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH!" James looked up to see Smith.

"JAMES LOOK OUT!" He heard Sirius yell from across the field. Suddenly something hit him, hard. He flipped over the broom handle, and tried to grab it. He couldn't his arm was in terrible pain. He fell, and he could hear screaming. In all the books he'd read it said they couldn't tell it was themselves screaming, they were wrong, he knew he was screaming. He knew it until he knew no more, until everything went black.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

"…. Stupid git... I swear if McGonagall hadn't... He's lucky I haven't..." James heard Sirius, but couldn't make out the words. He felt better though, knowing Sirius was beside him. At least he wasn't dead.

"How's he doing?" He heard Remus' voice next. Now he could make out what was actually being said.

"He's fine, Malfoy just hit him in the head, really hard. Pomfrey said he wouldn't be unconscious very much longer." Sirius responded. He was starting to get upset, they were talking about him like he wasn't even there. He opened his eyes intent on telling them off when he was blinded by the light coming in from the window beside him. He moaned and closed his eyes again, he wanted to cover his eyes with his hand but there was something holding it down.

"Told you so." Sirius said as he went over to close the blinds on the window, knowing exactly what was wrong without even asking James.

"Hey James. How do you feel?" Remus asked sitting by his side on the bed.

"My head hurts."

"Pomfrey said that would go away after a while." Sirius replied, sitting at his feet.

"What happened?"

"Aro ran into you, it was totally on purpose. I barely managed to catch you before you hit the ground."

"Git." he said hoarsely.

"Ya he really is."

Madam Pomfrey came to check on him.

"Oh and he broke your arm too." Sirius added as though he'd forgotten.

"Double git." James said, causing Remus to laugh.

"You should see him now, mate. He's in worse shape then you were when I caught you." Sirius said with a smirk.

"Awesome! What happened?"

"We did.." Remus said happily. "I personalty made his leg swell up to twice it's size. There's some kind of puss coming out of it too... It's the first time I've used that spell, so I didn't know exactly what it did." James' mouth fell open with shock.

"He's not lying, I saw him do it." Sirius had a proud look on their face.

"Sirius used a spell that caused him to cough up blood." Remus said, it sounded like he was tattling. James gave Sirius a hard look.

"Hey, he could have killed you, I have the right to curse him."

"That was dark arts, Sirius. And you know it."

"He deserved it."

"So you're going to stoop to their level?"

"I-um." Sirius stuttered. "I wasn't planning on, you know, kill him or anything."

"You know better than that."

"Sorry, James."

"And..."

"And I won't do it again." He promised looking at the floor.

"Good."

"James.."

"Ya"

"Thanks."

"That's what friends are for." James smiled at Sirius, who smiled back. It wasn't the first time they'd had this conversation and they knew this probably wouldn't be the last. Sirius had been taught this for eleven years, it's going to take more than one and half school years to reverse it.

What was important was that he was trying. He was trying very hard, and it showed. He was improving very well. He hardly ever said mudblood anymore, despite the fact that they kind of had to start over with that one in the beginning of the year. When everyone around you says something it sometimes gets difficult to keep from doing saying it yourself.

And of course no one is perfect... except maybe James.


	53. Dangers at Home

Chapter 53

Dangers at Home

Merlin, I'm tired." James said collapsing into bed.

"I'm trying go figure out if that was fun or not." Sirius replied sitting beside Remus on his bed. "What's ya reading?"

"I think I'm going to have to say it was. Malfoy was furious." James said before Remus could answer Sirius.

"Ya, but the seventh years chasing us wasn't all that fun."

"Ah it was worth it."

"What did you lot do now?" Remus asked rolling his eyes and hiding a smile.

"We locked him in a broom closet with Snivellus and used his wand to start a fire in their common room. Oh and we found a secret passage that ends up right in front of the room of requirement." Sirius got up and walked over to their desk, as though he reminded himself to put the path on the map.

"Sounds like fun." Remus laughed. Trying to figure out when he decided arson was fun.

"It was. So what did you guys do on this wet Saturday afternoon." James glared at the window, he'd been complaining about the rain all day. It had snowed all night, and he was getting really excited about dragging Sirius out for a snowball fight. He nearly fainted when Sirius told him he'd never played in the snow before. Once again, thanks to his over obsessive, neat freak mother.

Unfortunately when they woke up it was raining, turning all the snow to mush.

"Nothing really." Peter answered, he was watching Sirius draw the map.

"Guess what, Sirius." Remus smiled, though James was sure that it was only half real.

"What?" Sirius answered turning around in is chair, he too noticed the fake smile.

"You don't have to worry about being alone this Christmas." Remus' smile fell.

"What? Why? You're not going home? Why not?"

"Um... Well, some of our neighbors found out I'm a werewolf. They don't think it'll really be safe for me to come home."

"What!" James said angrily, he got up from his bed. "What is wrong with some people! I swear," James continued. They just tuned him out, he got like this every time any form of werewolf prejudice was mentioned.

"Oh," Was all that Sirius could say he turned back to the desk. He held his head in his hand. He wasn't surprised when Remus showed up beside him leaning on the desk.

"You okay?" He asked, worried about Sirius' lack of response.

"I should be asking you that."

"I'm fine, it's really no big deal." Sirius didn't believe him for a moment, and Remus could tell. "I mean sure, I'm going to miss being with them on Christmas, but it's only one time. Anyway, whether I stay here or go home, I'll still be with my family." Remus smiled, it was a lot more genuine than last time.

"That was really cheesy." Sirius said, but couldn't help but smile.

"I know, I should write greeting cards." Remus laughed.

"Remus, I have no idea what that is."

"They're cards you go to the store and buy that you give to someone for a special occasion."

"Why not just write your own?"

"I don't know, I always make them myself also."

"Muggles are lazy."

"Not all of them."

"If you say so." Sirius smirked, Remus just rolled his eyes.

"That's my mother, you're talking about. And wizards are just as lazy. They won't even walk across the room to get something." Remus smirked, pulled out his wand and tapped his hand. "Accio Book."

Sirius laughed as Remus caught the book. "Humans are lazy."

"Bingo." Remus laughed with Sirius. "You never told me why you were upset. I thought you would be glad that you didn't have to be alone."

"I am, but I shouldn't be. I shouldn't be happy that you can't go home."

"Sirius, I told you it's fine, really. It's only one year."

"Ya, I know"

"Hey, it stopped raining. Do you think there's any snow left?" James asked, oblivious to their conversation.

"No, James I don't. We'll just have to wait till next time." Remus smiled. "I'm ready for bed, do you mind if I turn out the lights and close the blinds?"

"Nope, go ahead, I'm just going to change then do the same." James answered, grabbing his pjs and going to the bathroom.

"Sirius? Peter?"

"I'm good." Sirius said grabbing is clothes and following James.

"Same." Peter just climbed into bed, having already changed.

Remus turned off the lights and closed the blinds on the window trying not to shiver at the moonlight on his skin.

He'd been in bed maybe five minutes before there was a loud crash from the bathroom.

"Merlin, those two can't be left alone for five minutes without killing something." Remus got up and walked into the bathroom. To his surprise the room was covered in soap and water and Sirius was standing, still in his daily clothes, in the middle of the room and was laughing so hard he had a hand on his ribs. James was by the door, also in his daily clothes, on the floor rubbing his head.

"Ow."

"Do I even want to know?"

"He ambushed me when I walked in. Dumped water on me." Sirius said between laughs.

"And so you somehow managed to get into a fight with the soapy water?" He assumed, Sirius nodded. Remus just sighed. "Make sure you clean it up." He said as he walked back to bed.

It wasn't until he climbed into bed that he realized what happened, and how he reacted to it.

Only Sirius and James could make soapy water fights in the middle of the night seem normal.

ARG! Stress! School, collage plans. Then I go and lose my sb stick which holds this story on it, so what I had done dissapeared. Plus another story I've been writing over a year that isn't on or saved anywhere else! I'm such an idiot! Why didn't I save it. Sorry. Just giving my excuse for taking so long. _ Did not like this chapter at all. hopefully next is better.

Really sorry.


	54. Trespassing

Chapter 54

Trespassing

Every one of them had mixed feelings when they woke up the day James and Peter were going home. James and Peter both were glad to be seeing their families, but it felt horrible to be leaving half of their group there. Remus wanted to see his parents, but was glad that Sirius wouldn't have to spend Christmas alone again. And Sirius was happy to have Remus here, but upset that he was glad Remus couldn't go home.

It didn't help Sirius' mood any that Regulus was staying also. He could barely stand to be in the same room as the first year. Regulus had taken to glaring at him every time he passed. James blamed Narcissa and Malfoy for this, as well as the other Slytherins he'd befriended. It was nice to find that Andromeda was staying also, though chances were that she wouldn't talk to them. She was still pretending to be loyal, something James was pretty sure he could never forgive her for.

James didn't like her all that much, but he knew Sirius loved her, and he was great full to her for being there for him over the summer, so he didn't dwell on it. James had too high of a standard to ever befriend someone like her.

Both Sirius and Remus walked them too the train station, not caring that they weren't technically allowed. They knew no one would stop them.

They were glad to find out that they would still be using the dorms, apparently a lot of the first years had stayed from the other houses. Sirius and Remus were the only ones from Gryffindor, they had the whole tower to themselves. Which of course gave Sirius plenty of prank ideas for when everyone got back, not caring in the slightest that everyone would know he was the one who did it.

"You know, I bet we could have a ton of hidden passageways found by the time they got back." Remus sugjested

"They'll be so jealous."

Between sneaking around the school, random pillow fights, practicing spells for personal use, no school work whatsoever, Remus and Sirius completely forgot about the other people in the school. Remus barely thought about his parents.

Remus spent one night in the Shreaking Shack and half a day in the hospital wing, while Sirius sat by the doors as he did every month, ignoring the cold and waiting for the sun to come back up. When Remus woke up all traces of tears were gone, but Remus wasn't fooled, he hated how much this hurt Sirius, but there really wasn't anything anyone could do about it.

"Sirius look at this." Remus called to Sirius, causing the latter to walk over to him.

"What? This creepy witch?" He asked.

"Look at the hump on her back"

"It kind of looks like it opens." Sirius traced the ring around the hump that made it look like it was two separate pieces. Remus tried to pull it open, but it wouldn't budge.

"You won't get it open like that." They heard from behind them. They turned to see a painting smirking at them.

"Do you know how to get in?" Sirius asked.

"Of course I know how to get in. I've only been right beside it for two thousand years."

"Oh stop it, you aren't two thousand years old." Another painting said rolling his eyes.

"I am too."

"You are not, now to get in that picture all you have to do is..." He began, but the guy from the first picture had walked into his picture and put him in a head lock.

"No! I want to tell them."

The fight continued for a while Remus and Sirius looked at each other and laughed.

"That'll be you and James when you get old." Remus smiled. As he said that one of the guys from the other pictures walked into theirs and pulled the two apart.

"Stop acting like children you're two hundred years old, not three."

"And that'll be you." Sirius smirked.

"Just tap the witch with your wand and say Dissendium." He told them.

"Thank you," Remus laughed. Sirius turned around and did what the picture said, The hump of the witch opened and they climbed in.

The tunnel seemed to be endless. None of the others had been this long.

"I wonder where it goes."

"From the looks of it, around the world."

"Oh ha ha ha, you're so hilarious."

"Uh oh., it looks like a dead end." Sirius stopped.

"No look up." There was flooring above them, Sirius pushed on it gently, removing it from it's place a little bit before peeking out, there was no one around so he climbed out.

"Sirius, I don't think we're in Hogwarts anymore, he said looking around at the many boxes and other non-school related items

"What was your first clue?" Sirius rolled his eyes at him while he stuck his tongue out at Sirius.

They snuck around and saw a set of stairs.

"We should go back, we could be in someones house." Remus said in a worried tone of voice.

"Why would there be a tunnel to someone's house? If you ask me this is probably the storeroom to a shop. That's why the tunnel was here. Who ever magicked it out was probably using it to steal stuff from the store."

Remus stopped in his tracks.

"What?" Sirius stopped and looked at him.

"How'd you figure that out?"

"It's a secret tunnel, into a room with a lot of boxes, well hidden, it's larger than it needs to be for just a person, and it's right next to a unused classroom." He shrugged as though it was nothing.

"I really don't like how you know that kind of stuff."

"Sorry." Sirius said before continuing to sneak up the stairs. Remus shook his head, as though he was trying to shake away his thoughts and followed Sirius up the stairs.

"You do realize we're trespassing right. We could get in huge trouble."

"Shush." Remus didn't talk again.

Sirius peeked out the door at the top of the stairs, before closing it. "Told you it was a store. Ok when we walk out we're going to act as though were supposed to be down here. As long as it isn't an employee by the door no one will even notice." He whispered.

"Are you nuts!" Remus tried to whisper. "We are going to get in so much trouble. We should go back now."

"Wuss, fine you go back. I'm going to find out where we are." He didn't wait just opened the door and walked out, Remus followed, not knowing why. No one even looked at them.

"I thought you were going back" he said as they walked around the shop.

"I'm too scared." He answered honestly, Sirius chuckled. They walked out of the shop.

"I know where we are. We're in Hogsmeade." He looked around excitedly.

"What's that?"

"It's the only all wizarding village in England."

"Diagon Ally..."

"Muggles go to Diagon Ally all the time. You should know, didn't your mother come with you."

"Oh right."

"This is really cool! We can come here any time we want to!"

"I'm trying to figure out if that's a good thing or not." Remus said worryingly.

"Oh calm down, lets go get a butterbeer. I'll buy." He dragged Remus over to the three broomsticks.

"A what?"

"You'll love it, trust me. Everyone does."

They walked in to the tavern. It was just as full as the shop they'd just came out of.

"Two butterbeers please." Sirius told the lady at the counter and she quickly got them their stuff.

"I don't drink, Sirius."

"It has hardly any alcohol in it at all. It takes like twenty of them to get a house-elf drunk." He said shrugging it off.

"House-elves can get drunk?"

"Anything can get drunk, Remus. I've seen a plant do it once. They get drunk like five times easier than us."

"Oh, I guess it's no big deal then." He said giving his glass a worried look.

"Trust me, Remus. It's not bad."

"I really shouldn't trust you, you play way too many tricks on people to be a really trustworthy person."

"Not on you."

"True." Sirius took a drink of his, and Remus slowly did the same. Naturally, Sirius was right. It tasted great.

"Shouldn't you kids be in school?" The lady from the counter said walking over to him.

"I'll give you three galleons if you don't mention it to anyone... Ever." Sirius smiled back at her. Remus face-palmed. Great now they were resorting to bribery. This day was just turning out wonderful.

"Fine." She rolled her eyes and Sirius gave her the money.

"Wonderful." Remus said sarcastically.

"What?"

"Sorry, I'm not a fan of bribery."

"No big deal."

"Maybe to you."

"You aren't the one doing it."

"I know, but I still don't like it."

"Sorry. I'm kind of pushing you to do things a lot today huh."

"It's okay. I wouldn't do it if I didn't trust you to handle it."

"Aw thanks." Sirius smiled at him.

"We should get back before it gets dark." Remus changed the subject, choosing to not acknowledge it. Sirius laughed.

"It's fun making you uncomfortable." Sirius said standing.

"You're really mean, you know that?"

"Yep." Remus sighed, and they headed back to the shop they entered the town from. Sirius stopped to see the name of it. It was a potion ingredients store.

"Can't wait to tell James and Peter about this." Sirius said going though the tunnel first.

"They'll love it." Remus chuckled. A year and a half ago, if you'd told him he'd be sneaking out of the school for anything besides his monthly transformations he would have never believed you. Now though, it really didn't seem like it was all that big of a deal. He was more worried about getting caught then anything else. He loved being a Marauder. Life was so much more fun.

Okay for some reason every time I type N.E. or O. it seems to cut it off. I don't think I'm doing it because it does it every time, I wouldn't make the same mistake that many time. So I'm telling you now that they mean newts and owls. Usually it stops newts at N.E.. and owls at O. It's weird, maybe it's my spell check, I don't know.


	55. Chatting At Hagrids

Chapter 55

Chatting at Hagrid's

Sirius and Remus climbed back though the statue. They weren't surprised to see the paintings still fighting. They laughed before walking off.

"Do you have any idea how awesome this is? We can leave when ever we want."

"You know what I'm going to say about that."

"Ya, ya, I know we have to make sure we can't get caught and we can't stay long. But still…" He didn't continue, he knew he didn't have too. "It's an easy cure for boredom. And even better, anytime we need an…" He paused as they walked into a room with other students and waited till they left the room to continue. "Anytime we need potion ingredients for one of our pranks we don't have to risk getting caught by Slugbreath to get it" Remus thought about this for a moment.

"You do have a point. We won't have to steal anything anymore, now that we can just buy it. But not everyone is as easily bribed as the bartender, Sirius. How do you plan on keeping them from telling?"

"Easy. If they tell on us we can't buy stuff from them anymore. So they'd be loosing money. Not everyone can be bribed no, but shopkeepers need to make a living don't they?" Sirius smirked, causing Remus to sigh.

"I really don't think I need to repeat myself, but you really scare me sometimes."

"I scare a lot of people. Peter runs every time I get mad, and we live together." Sirius laughed

"Peter doesn't count. Snow piles scare Peter." Remus reminded him, remembering how Peter completely avoided large pileups of snow when they were going to visit Hagrid. That was when James found out Sirius had never played in snow before, they still hadn't had a chance to have that snow fight.

"Very true." Sirius nodded. "Oh we should go visit Hagrid, he said he'd let us feed his pet thing." Sirius said excitedly.

"I think that's a life experience I could live without." Remus said, but sighed and followed him out anyway.

Hagrid was already outside when they got there. Before they could say hi to him they heard a barrage of barks coming from the back yard. Sirius' smile widened. He ran over to greet 'his' puppy.

"I wish animals liked me that much." Remus said watching Sirius wrestle with the three headed dog, inappropriately named Fluffy.

"Yer can't really blame them." Hagrid winked at him. "Yer a darn scary thing yer are." Remus just laughed.

"Can I untie them Hagrid. I won't let them leave the yard." Sirius asked, barely able to push the large dog off of him.

"Yer catching 'em if he runs off." Hagrid answered. Sirius just nodded and let the dog loose. It didn't go anywhere, just jumped back on Sirius.

Remus laughed, Sirius looked just as much like the dog, as the dog did. Maybe more, since that dog had three heads. Sirius acted more like a dog then him, but he actually was one, at least he was once a month. Maybe that's one of the reasons Sirius liked him so much, Sirius just liked mutts.

Sirius stood, trying to keep Fluffy from pulling him back down.

"What ar' yer gettin' everyon' for Christmas?" Hagrid asked, mostly trying to make conversation.

"I'm not sure yet really. I'd like to get my parents something nice, but I don't really have a whole lot of money to do that."

"I.."

"I know Sirius, but I'd really rather not barrow it from you."

"Didn't really think you would." Sirius shrugged it off. "I'm giving Peter a Spell book. Something really, really easy." Remus laughed.

"Getting tired of teaching him?"

"I totally understand why James gave up."

"I must say though, you are much better at it then he is."

"Really? I don't know about that."

"Believe what you want." Remus shrugged.

"Why didn' you go home Remus?" Hagrid asked.

"Uh, err." Remus looked around to make sure there was no one else around. "My neighbors found out I'm a werewolf, they don't think it's the safest time for me to come home right now." Remus said, ignoring Sirius' growl, which in turn made Fluffy bark loudly.

Hagrid sighed, "I think I know how that feels"

"It's no big deal, I mean, it's not like I'm not use to it."

"Stop asting like a tough guy, Remus, it doesn't fit you." Remus stuck his toungue out at Sirius. "I'm not."

Sirius rolled his eyes in responce. Fluffy barked, complaining that Sirius had stopped petting him.

"See, even Fluffy doesn't like it." Sirius smiled at the dog and started playing with it again.

"They're barking at you, not me."

"Why would they be barking at me? They love me." Sirius ran over to Remus, the dog began to follow but refused to get within five feet of the werewolf. They began growling at him.

"Go away, I don't want it attacking me." Remus pushed Sirius back over to the dog. Fluffy quickly began sniffing Sirius, as though making sure the 'scary monster' didn't hurt him.

"And you thought they were barking at me." Sirius smirked.

"It's not my fault they're afraid of me. They, unlike you, are smart enough to stay away from monsters." Remus was surprised by the glare Sirius gave him. "Joking, Joking. Calm down."

"Sure you were." He said sarcasticly, but he turned back to the dog anyway. Remus sighed, Sirius hated it when he put himself down in any way. James did also, but Sirius would go as far as giving him the silent treatment for it.

"Yer no monster, Remus." Hagrid put his huge hand on Remus' tiny shoulders.

"I know." He said unconvinsingly.

"No, the real mosters are the dark arts maniacs thats been in the news lately. You hear bout that kid who killed his own mom because she was a muggleborn?" Sirius asked Haggrid, knowing Remus already knew about it.

"Nah, don' read news anymore. Too depressing for me."

"Got that right." Sirius complained. "Nothing good seems to be happening according to them."

"It could be worse," Remus said, not willing to look at the negative.

"It's going to get worse. There's a war starting, as long as this Voldemort guy's alive things will only get worse."

"It can't be only one guy, Sirius."

"No, but he makes everything ten times worse."

"Who is he, I mean it's like he just appeared out of nowhere."

"Even I don't know the answer to that, Moony." Sirius said, ending that conversation. It was a while before anyone spoke again, and when Remus finally broke the silence it was only to tell Sirius they should be getting back to the castle.

Remus couldn't stop thinking of Voldemort, even after he'd gone to bed. He was against muggleborn wizards, and he was willing to kill them in any possible manner. It wasn't hard to figure out who'd he be going for next. Werewolves. Especially half blood werewolves.

If Voldemort didn't go down. Chances are he wouldn't live to see the end of this war.


	56. Christmas Shopping

Chapter 56

Christmas Shopping

The Saturday before Christmas found the two Marauders in Hogsmeade searching for Christmas presents.

"This is a lot easier than trying to find stuff at the castle." Sirius said looking though a section of a small candy shop.

"I'll bet. Look at this." Remus ran over, holding a box of every flavored jelly beans.

"Those have been out for ever. You really need to get out in the real world more, Moony." Remus ignored his teasing.

"How do they have every flavor? Is that even possible?"

"I've gotten a wood flavored one before."

"You're kidding." Remus looked at him incredulously. Sirius just shook his head. Remus stared at the box. "That's not sane."

"You know, I've never really thought about it before, but you're right."

"Wizards are crazy." Remus deduced. "Acid pops. I mean really, why?" Sirius laughed.

"Revenge, pranks, you know stuff like that." He shrugged. "Though I would much rather use my own skills in a prank: I'm not going to rely on something someone else made for my pranks."

"If you can't rely on your own skills in magic then there's no point in pranking someone in the first place." Remus agreed; he walked up to the counter and paid for what he had. He was getting Peter sweets this year: now that he knew what his favorites were.

They left the shop trying to block out the cold winter air. It was freezing outside and yet there was no snow. Sirius was glad, but Remus missed seeing the landscape painted white.

"Where too next?" Sirius asked hugging his coat. He'd never been outside during the winter as many times as he was this year. He usually stayed inside: last year all his Christmas gifts had been found inside the castle. He'd never been Christmas shopping before that, and what other reason would you have to go outside in the freezing winter. It's not like he'd ever been allowed to play outside anyway, no matter what the weather was like. There was too many muggles in Grimmauld Place for that.

They never minded letting Bella, Andy, or Cissy outside, and Regulus could if he was with one of the others. Sirius had only been out of the house maybe five times without one of the adults there with him. Two of those times he'd snuck out-out of spite mostly-and the other three Andy was with him, those three had only been for a half an hour.

They were always aloud to be alone in town though; it was often even encouraged now that they were old enough to be trusted to behave themselves.

"You've been kind of quite, Sirius. What's up?" Remus asked as they stepped inside the Three Broomsticks to warm up.

"I think my mother suspected that I wasn't going to turn out the way they wanted." He said, voicing his thoughts. Remus chuckled.

"Where'd that come from?"

"I was thinking about why I was rarely ever outside during the winter, and it made me realize I hardly ever went outside: period." Sirius ordered butterbeers for them and paid for Remus' before he could protest.

"Why? I spent most of my life outside." Remus smiled thinking about home.

"We live in a muggle town. I wasn't allowed outside without her, though the others were able too. Even Regulus didn't have as many restrictions as I did, and he's younger. At first I thought it was just because I'm the heir, but I'm not too sure that's right anymore."

Remus thought about this for a while. "Did you give them any reason to think that?"

"Not that I know of."

"You might be reading too much into their actions. It is entirely possible it could just be because you're the heir."

"Why would they need to protect me so much if they thought I wasn't going to need it?"

"Paranoia: my parents get that way sometimes too. I'm not allowed outside after dark anymore, even though nothing in its right mind would attack a werewolf. Parents get over protective, even if there is no rational explanation for their fears."

"Yes, because she defiantly was feeling over protective at the beginning of last year." Sirius replied sarcastically.

"Maybe she was." Remus said quietly.

"What?"

"I'm not trying to justify it, but each person has their own definition of what's dangerous. Maybe she believes that the path you've chosen is dangerous. She's wrong, but still. She didn't start trying to kick you out immediately did she?"

"Well she hasn't exactly tried to kick me out, but there's been a lot of yelling."

"See, it's not that she doesn't care at all. She's trying to protect you in her own way. She's doing it extremely wrong, but considering your family line, that may be the only way she's equipped to deal with it." Remus suggested, not looking at Sirius. When Sirius didn't answer he peeked at him.

"If she cared then she wouldn't have called me a useless waist of space."

"That's probably how she was raised."

"And that makes it okay?"

"No, I said I wasn't trying to justify it. But still…"

"Ya, whatever"

"You're mad at me aren't you?"

"Not really."

"It's different for me of course. I'm not directly involved, so it's easier for me to understand."

"And you don't have as short of a fuse."

"Very true"

They finished their drinks without much more chatter and continued their Christmas shopping.

By the time they went back Sirius had gotten James an a book on professional level quidditch plays and he'd gotten Peter a wide variety of special quills, such as spell checking and one really cool one that even told you if you were answering the question wrong. Remus had gotten James an advanced potion set, and for Peter he got candy.

They both planned on sneaking to Hogsmeade later to get each others presents. This, of course, was never discussed between the two.

It didn't have to be though, they knew each other well enough to know exactly what the other was planning.

Okay, I need to make one thing very clear. I know James isn't perfect, alright. This is how I think they would think. How many reviews have I gotten saying. "I don't think James is perfect." or something like that. Thank you for the reviews but I know that already. I don't think James is perfect either. He's spoiled and egotistical. If there was someone at your school who got perfect grades, was the star of a sports team, and was insainly popular, you wouldn't see many flaws in him either.

Sorry, don't mean to sound rude, but it's really getting annoying.

Hey guess what! I think my fanfiction is longer than many published books! Woooo! ^_^


	57. Detention

Chapter 57

Detention

Sirius walked to McGonagall's room, Christmas had been great, naturally, but seeing the rest of the Marauders come back was better. Remus enjoyed Christmas despite missing his parents, something Sirius would never be able to understand. Remus could enjoy just about anything if he really wanted to.

Sirius tried to remember what this detention was for. What ever it was it happened a long time ago, probably towards the beginning of the year. He smirked, he probably spent more time in detention with McGonagall then he did with anyone but the Marauders. He spent all his time with them. Detention was the only time they were apart.

"Black." McGonagall greeted calmly. She'd given up getting upset with him, it didn't help and she was getting tired of pretending to be upset with him. He wasn't hurting anything but the victim's pride really.

"Professor," he replied sitting in one of the chairs. Smiling at the three other chairs beside him, and wishing they were occupied.

They spent the detention going over that day's transfig lessons. The good thing about having so many detentions was that he was actually going to pass transfiguration this year, without help from extra credit assignments. They had considered telling her about their additions to the map, but quickly decided against it. There were a lot of places they'd added to the map that they really didn't want the teachers to know about. It would really hurt them if they couldn't get around the school without the teachers knowing. They learned that the hard way when Filch had found one of their favorite shortcuts.

Naturally it was Peter's fault Filch had found it. Sometimes Sirius really wanted to throw Peter out the window. James might have a few objections to that.

"Black, are you even paying attention?"

"Ya," he said off offhandedly.

"What is it now?" she asked, not happy with the distraction.

"I'm sorry, I'm just worried about Remus." He apologized sincerely. He usually tried to pay attention to these lessons, as he needed them to pass. She sighed and sat back down, the look on his face told her that if she went towards the front of the castle she'd see him sitting at the door again. She didn't say anything. He started flipping though a random book on her desk out of awkwardness.

"Do you know what you're going to be?" He asked noticing the subject of the book.

"A cat." She answered, he gave a small smile.

"I'm more of a dog person myself."

"Why am I not surprised?" She asked.

"Probably my name."

"I'm not too sure your name has anything to do with it." She replied, but he'd zoned out.

"Does this make you exactly like a normal animal? With no differences at all?" He asked still looking a little zoned.

"Well you can still control you're own mind, but that's about the only difference." She said curious as to why he was asking. He didn't say anything, just continued flipping though the book. She waited to see if he'd say anything else for a while before giving up. "Alright, Sirius, I guess we're done here. Don't forget to do the homework. I'm sure James could help you with it if you needed it." Sirius nodded and put the book back before leaving without saying another word. Something strange was going on in that boys head, and she wasn't foolish enough to think she'd ever find out what.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Knight to E-3." James said watching his knight move. "When is Si getting out of detention?" He complained, he liked Peter, but Sirius was much more fun.

"I dunno." Peter replied he looked out the window at the full moon. It had only been dark for an hour and they were both already rather tense. They got that way during most full moons, all but Sirius. Sirius didn't tense. Sirius got really quiet and depressing. And he disappeared a lot too. Sirius though no one saw him leave in the middle of the night but Peter saw it. Peter saw a lot more than they gave him credit for. Such as now for example, Sirius walked in with a thoughtful expression on his face. James was too excited that he had someone reasonably fun to play with, but Peter noticed. Peter also noticed that this wasn't one of the expressions he recognized.

"James, can I ask you something?" He said, still rather lost in his thoughts.

"You just did." James replied, finally noticing that Sirius wasn't even listening to his hints that he should play exploding snap with him.

"What would you be willing to do to help Remus?" Sirius asked, causing all of them to watch him closely.

"Anything, Why?" James looked suspicious.

"Even something illegal and potentially dangerous?"

"Who is it dangerous too?"

"Us."

"Alright, what is it?" Sirius looked at him looking a little like a puppy who was about to get in trouble.

"Illegal animagi?"


	58. Insanity

Chapter 58

Insanity

"ARE YOU NUTS!" James yelled pacing across the room. He'd been pretty much on a rampage ever sense Sirius had suggested the crazy idea. Peter looked just plain shocked and scared. "ILLEGAL ANIMEGI? Have you lost you're mind? Please tell me you're joking."

"You said anything." Sirius reminded him, surprisingly quietly.

"You are nuts. You realize what would happen if we were caught right. Azkaban, that's what."

"You said anything." Sirius just repeated.

"Even if we were actually able to pull it off, what in the world makes you think it would help?"

"You said anything."

"But... But!"

"You said..."

"Anything, yes I know!" James growled knowing he was stuck in a trap. Either he admitted he wasn't willing do anything for Remus, or he risked Azkaban for Remus. "What in the world makes you think it'll help?"

"Werewolves are only dangerous to people. They have no problem with other animals."

"Did Remus tell you that?"

"I read it and Remus confirmed it."

"And what makes you think we'll actually be able to pull this off?"

"We have too. For Remus." Sirius looked at James. James looked as though he was signing his own death certificate.

"For Remus." He repeated and Peter squeaked, though they didn't here him. He knew he was going to get dragged into this as well. He probably wouldn't even be given a choice.

"We can't tell Remus." James said after quite a long period of silence.

"We have to." Sirius said with the most volume he'd had all night. "I kinda made a promise."

"He won't let us. You know he won't, he'd probably tell on us if he thought he had too."

"I know, but I can't break my promise." James paced again. There had to be some way. "What if we tell him after we do it, but before we follow him to the safe house. Would that break you're promise?"

"I suppose not." Sirius thought about it before smiling.

"This is going to be a lot of hard work. Especially with how bad you can get at transfiguration."

"There's more to it then just transfig. I think."

"How are we going to figure out how to do it? They don't just hand out _How to Become an Animegi_ books."

"Actually they do, but only to those going though the process legally."

"Whatever."

"Getting a hold of the information won't be much of a problem, I can think of a hundred places I can get the books from, but I can't get them from here."

"Do I want to know how?"

"Probably not."

"Why can't you get them from here?"

"None of them does owl mail. You have to go into the store. Too much risk of getting caught."

"Is it a good thing that I'm friends with someone who had criminal connections or really really sad that I am friends with someone who has criminal connections."

"Probably both."

"So there's nothing we can do till summer?"

"We can still do some research. There's some books in the library about it but they skip a few important details. It's not too hard to sneak in and grab some. We also might be able to find some in the restricted section." James nodded and headed for his invisibility cloak.

"Let's go now." He suggested and Sirius nodded. "You want to come, Peter?" Peter just shook his head quickly and muttered something about going to bed, not that James was surprised.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Remus heard them before he saw them. He didn't really want to open his eyes and see their worried looks. The happiness that they cared enough to worry about him had worn off a while ago. Now he just felt guilty.

"Moony, we know you're awake." Remus could hear the smirk in his voice and moaned. Sirius was in a teasing mood. This wasn't going to be fun. Alright that was probably a lie, but he'd never admit that to anyone.

"Speak for yourself, how'd you know." James asked and Remus opened one eye and peeked at him before closing it again.

"He started holding his breath." Sirius answered. Remus pulled the blankets over him and complained about the light, hoping they'd think that was the reason, instead of the fact that he was self-conscious about his cuts. Fat chance of that happening.

"Guess what, Remus." James said excitedly, they were in a surprisingly good mood, it only seemed to extenuate the bad mood he was in. All James got for an answer was some grumbling.

"Sirius actually managed to get a half hour of sleep last night." Sirius groaned and dropped his head into his hand, Remus peeked out of the covers.

"Really?" He almost sounded happy. Almost.

"It was more like twenty minutes. Twenty agonizing minutes. Full of nightmares and hardly any rest." Sirius said still holding his head. Remus gave him a sad look.

"Sorry." He said quietly, not looking anywhere but Sirius.

"Not you're fault. I have nightmares all the time, what makes you think that they were about you."

"Because I know you." He still didn't look him in the eye.

"That you do." Sirius smiled at him. "I'm getting better though. I'm sure everything will be fine, soon enough." James glared at him but Remus didn't notice he just gave a small smile.

"Sure it will." He said sadly. Sirius winced he sat beside Remus on the bed and hugged him, gently of course. Remus looked surprised, Sirius wasn't really the most huggy person, he preferred just an arm around the shoulder or a pat on the back or something, but no hugs. "We're kind of the rejects of the school when you think about it." Remus said trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"What do you mean? I think we're awesome." James said.

"Come on, you have to admit it. I mean, I'm a werewolf, Sirius is the white sheep of the Black Family." He began, Sirius laughed at the mental image that came from that phrase. "Peter is the only person in history that couldn't really fit into any of the house categories, if what he said the sorting hat told him is true." Remus wanted to continue, but fell silent and couldn't think of what came next.

"And James is only here because Peter is." Sirius finished for him.

"That's not true." James defended. Sirius just gave him an incredulous look. "Really it's not."

"James, admit it. If Peter hadn't accidentally sat by us you never would have given me a second glance and you'd probably hate Sirius." Remus told him focusing his concentration on fidgeting with his blanket to keep from looking at James.

"That's not true. We share a dorm, we would have met sooner or later."

"That doesn't mean you'd like us. You'd probably hang out with Frank and the others more than us." Remus replied.

"Forget that. He'd be hanging out with the seventh years, or at least the fifth years." Sirius leaned back on the bed, being careful not to put his weight on Remus' legs, which Remus really appreciated as his legs were both hurting quite a bit.

James looked away, he wanted to deny it, but he knew it was probably true.

"Does it really matter?" Peter asked. "If he'd have been friends with someone else he'd be the one missing out, not you guys." He shrugged but they both looked at him and smiled.

"Thanks, Peter." Remus said happily. Peter blushed a little.

"True. Glad I'm not missing out." James smiled.

"You better be. Your life would be so boring without me." Sirius smirked.

Remus laughed. "You're so humble Sirius."

"I know isn't he. Truly an inspiration to us all." James added.

"Thank you, Thank you." Sirius said pretending to be oblivious to their teasing. James laughed and messed up Sirius' hair, causing a yelp from the younger boy.

Remus laughed as Sirius pulled James into a headlock. Nothing could break up this group. Only death could bring the four of them apart.

THANK YOU! I've been trying to update for like ever now! My internet stopped working. Then stopped working. Then the internet stopped working again. Now I have to go to the library in order to upload anything. THE CONNECTION AT THE LIBRARY IS VERY SLOW! I'll try to keep updating, but I can't do it at home anymore, so it will be a slow process. I'll upload as many chapters as I have done now. Sorry 'bout this.


	59. Third Year Classes

Chapter 59

Third Year Classes.

Around Easter McGonagall passed out papers to all the second years. Time to pick classes for next year.

"Man, I don't want to take any of these classes." James complained glaring at the sheet of paper. He swiped Sirius' paper out of his hands.

"Hey, I was using that."

"Why in the world are you taking Divination?" James asked looking at Sirius as though he was nuts.

"I think it sounds interesting." Sirius shrugged.

"I think it sounds fake."

"Then don't take it."

"I'm not going to."

"I never asked you too."

Remus sighed as Sirius and James got in another fight over absolutely nothing.

"What have you signed up for Remus?"

"Ancient Runes, I think I'm going to take Arithmancy also."

"Arithmancy sounds hard." Peter complained.

"You probably shouldn't take it; it involves a lot of numbers and stuff. You should take Care of Magical Creatures class. It sounds like something you'd be good at. Less book learning, more hands on activities."

"That sounds better than Arithmancy." Peter thought for a moment before marking the class on his list. "What are you taking James?"

"I'm not sure. I think I'm going to go in Muggle studies with Sirius. Just because I have to mark something down. I think you'd be good in Creatures class too Remus."

"No I wouldn't." Remus said quickly. "Animals hate me. Really, really bad."

"Oh, then you probably wouldn't." James agreed. "Sirius would be good at Creatures. You should switch Divination with it."

"James, I want to take Divination."

"Why would you want to take Divination? The teacher is a nut job."

"The teacher is retiring this year."

"Whatever. The whole class is full of nut jobs."

"I think you're a nut job."

"Whatever."

"Why are you taking Muggle Studies, Sirius?" Remus asked.

"Why shouldn't I take it?"

"I never said you shouldn't take it, just hoping you're not taking it to spite your parents."

"Well I'm not." Sirius paused for a moment taking in the looks they were giving him. "Fine, but that isn't the only reason I'm taking it I swear."

Remus sighed. "Sirius."

"I know, I know. I promise they're not the only reason I'm taking it, they're not even the biggest reason." They were quiet for a while. James finally got tired of the silence.

"I'm thinking about taking Ancient Runes also." He said rereading the description of the class.

"Cool, I don't have to be alone all day." Remus said happily.

"What else should I take?" Peter asked, not able to make up his mind on his own.

"Hmm. Divination is another one with more hands on then book learning. It's either that or Muggle studies. You wouldn't be good at either Ancient Runes or Arithmancy."

"I figured you'd like Ancient Runes too, Sirius." Remus said, Sirius loved mystical stuff like that. Not that everything in the school wasn't mystical, but runes were extra special.

"Eh, I can already read runes."

"WHAT!" They all exclaimed. They knew Sirius was multilingual, but runes were really complicated, not many kids could learn it.

"Bella took it and taught me and Reg during the summer. Anything to make us smarter than everyone else, you know." He shrugged.

James moaned. "Is there anything you don't have training in?"

"Muggle studies and Divination." Sirius smiled and ripped his list out of James' hands.

"Erg. Why would you want training in Divination."

"Because I'm weird." Sirius said.

"Do I have to pick two?" Peter interrupted.

"I don't think so."

"Good, I'm just going with Creatures then."

"I really think you should set yourself a little higher, Peter."

"But I don't want to take anything else. They sound hard."

"If you're sure, Peter." Remus sighed. He wasn't going to push, especially when Peter probably would be better off with fewer classes. He did need more free time to keep the stress from overwhelming him.

"Wow that was faster then I thought, let's give them to McGonagall." James jumped up and headed for the door. The others followed to McGonagall's office.

"Are you sure you want to turn them in already? You haven't given yourselves much time to decide." She warned them. James just nodded, while Sirius shrugged, and Remus and Peter gave her a "Yes, Ma'am."

Before they could leave James noticed something on her desk. "Wow, that's pretty." he voiced his distraction. "Who gave it to you, Professor?"

They looked at what he was pointing at, it was a beautiful multicolored rose. James reached out to look at the note, McGonagall got there first.

"Potter, just because I got a gift does not instantly entitle you to know everything about my personal life." She pulled the rose out of his grasp, trying to ignore the look of huge relief on Sirius' face. She had no intentions of letting anyone find out the gift was from him if he didn't tell them himself. In fact she took the note off of the rose and stuck it in her desk drawer.

"Alright, shesh, it was just a question."

"A question that you do not need an answer from."

"Well whoever it was he really, really likes you." Remus said with a chuckle. "Those things are expensive."

"It isn't from a boyfriend, if that's what your thinking." She watched the red go from Sirius' cheeks to his whole face.

"I never said anything about a boyfriend." Remus smiled at her.

"It sounds to me like she's trying to deny it because it's true." They took her resulting laugh as a confirmation, it never occurred to them that the real reason she laughed was because at that very moment Sirius had slowly and quietly backed out of the room, about as red as a boy could possible get without turning into a tomato.

"You boys are poking your heads where they do not belong," She said quickly hiding her amusement. "And if you do not stop, I may decide that I'm being harassed, and trust me I am not afraid of keeping you in detention during quidditch practice."

"I think I'm going to leave now." James said quickly. Remus just laughed at how easy it was to threaten James. They started to leave the room, just before they made it out the door, Remus noticed something was missing.

"Wait, where's Sirius?"

It took everything McGonagall could do to hold in her laughter until after she'd closed the door and made sure they weren't still in hearing range.

It was students like them that made teaching the best job she'd ever had.

It was also students like them that made teaching the worst job she'd ever had.

She just couldn't win.


	60. Miss Lilly Evans

Chapter 60

Miss Lilly Evans

Exams... Who didn't hate exams?

Even Remus hated exams... And Remus liked to learn.

"A month! Exams are a month away. Why are we already getting extra homework for exams that are a month away!" James complained loudly. It was two a.m. TWO A.M. And they were still working on their homework, well Sirius and James were. Remus stayed up to help them. Peter had fallen asleep on the couch the second he'd finished his. Quidditch practice was really cutting into their homework time. So now their homework time was cutting into their sleeping time, and their sleeping time was cutting into their make the Slytherin's life miserable time.

"Because the teachers hate us." Remus yawned, normally they would think of this as uncharacteristic of him, but Remus' mood always goes south when he hadn't slept in forty-eight hours. Not that he usually sleeps all that much, but still an hour of sleep was usually enough to keep him from getting cranky. He hadn't even slept that much.

"Go to bed, Moony."

"Hah, like that'll help. Stupid moon. And will you stop calling me that!"

"No. The moon isn't even half full yet." Sirius replied. The first part to Remus' demand and the second to his blaming the moon for his lack of sleep.

"So what?"

"How can it be bugging you this bad when it isn't even that big?"

"It's closer then normal. I don't know why, it just feels like it is." Remus yawned again.

"What's the name of the famous goblin hunters we learned about today?" James asked, ignoring their conversation.

"Who cares." Remus replied but looked though his notes anyway.

"Who indeed." Sirius sighed and dropped his head on the table.

"The only ones the book named were Morphin and Mephilus."

"Who would name their kids that?"

"Anyone in my family." Sirius answered.

"When I have a kid, he's going to be named something plain. Like John or Paul."

"Boring!" Sirius complained.

"No practical."

"Totally boring."

"It's better then Sirius. Seriously!" James got in a small smirk before Sirius could tackle him. Remus watched them in amusement for a while before he heard someone coming down the stairs.

"What is that?"

"Sirius and the word it sounds like."

"Oh, I don't blame him. That's a really lame joke."

"Sometimes James will use it just to make him mad."

"That sounds like something Potter would do."

"It doesn't help that they're both rather exhausted." Remus said having to stop in the middle to yawn.

"Looks like they're no the only ones. Why don't you go to bed."

"I can't sleep. I tried."

"Same here. I think I'm worrying too much for our DADA test tomorrow."

"Why? You don't think you studied enough?"

"I studied a lot, but I'm still worried."

"What are you worried about?" They watched as Sirius managed to get away from James and ran up the stairs to the dorm.

"I thought James was the defender?" She looked at Remus who shrugged.

"They probably don't even remember what they're fighting about."

"Are they a little mad?"

"Much more then a little. Especially when they're together."

"When are they not together?"

"Never if they can help it. They enjoy madness."

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you. I know it's a lie but you probably should know that she's saying it anyway."

"What?"

"Rita Skeeter has been going around telling everyone you have a crush on Alice."

"What?" Remus sat up straighter and glanced at the girl's dorm. "What gave her that idea?"

"I don't know I think she's just making it up."

"Did she tell Alice?"

"Ya, but Alice just laughed at her." Lily told him, a little surprised by the relieved look on his face.

"Good."

"Why so relieved?"

"I don't have a crush on her."

"Most people would be offended by that."

"Oh." Remus looked away. "I'd rather her not like me like that. She's a good friend of mine, but I'm not her type." He put his arms around his knees before mumbling, "or any one's type really."

"What makes you think that?" She asked, knowing he hadn't meant for her to hear it.

"I'm just not." He answered hoping she'd drop it.

"I think you're really nice and someday you're going to make some girl very happy." She smiled at him and he blushed. "If she can manage to ignore the people you hang out with, anyway."

Remus laughed. "Well if she's going to have me she's going to have to manage to put up with them too. Somehow I doubt they're going anywhere and I can't marry someone who doesn't like my friends."

"You're also very loyal. I think you're crazy for hanging out with them, but I do admire your loyalty to them." Remus' blush deepened.

"The amount of loyalty I have to them is nothing compared to the loyalty they've shown me."

"Trying to imagine Potter and Black as being loyal is very hard."

"It's much easier when you know them."

"If you say so." They sat in silence for a while. "I should probably attempt to get some more sleep."

"Ya, me too. Don't worry so much about that test, it's going to be really easy. Easier then normal really."

"Thanks." She watched him walk back up the stairs. It didn't occur to her to be curious as to how he knew it would be easier then normal. She probably didn't really want to know anyway.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Lilly Evans walked into the Great Hall for lunch the next day feeling very calm. However he'd found out, Remus ended being right. The test had been far easier then normal.

She sat down as usual beside her two Gryffindor friends. She wanted to sit with Severus but people looked at her funny if she tried to. His friends were starting to scare her.

"Sirius please, don't make a scene." She heard Remus say behind her. There was so little hope in his voice that it made her laugh. She turned around wishing she wasn't so curious as to what scene Black was planning.

"If you let her get by with it she'll never stop, Moony." Sirius replied, making her wonder about the odd nickname.

"I don't care. I really don't, she could say I'd fallen for a donkey and I wouldn't care in the slightest." Lilly laughed, Remus had made the mistake of telling Sirius what Rita Skeeter was saying about him.

"Hey, Skeeter." Sirius called, the first year stood at her name. James chuckled at the sight of her. Remus moaned and hid his face in his hands.

"What?" She eyed them with a mixture of suspicion and fear. It took Lilly a while to realize what she was afraid of. It made her think. Did most people really see Sirius as frightening? She knew he was a Black, so that didn't help, but when she looked at him all she saw was... well she saw a rebellious puppy when she looked at him. Rebellious puppies are cute and funny, not scary.

"We've been hearing that you've been saying things we don't like about our friend here." James said trying to look threatening. It must have worked, she looked scared, though James didn't look scary to Lilly. Remus seemed to be trying to hide deeper in his hand.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about." She stuttered.

"I'm sure you don't." Sirius said with heavy sarcasm.

"Well either way, we just wanted to warn you, if we hear you're sprouting out more rumors about our friend, we're going to get mad so I'd shut my lips if I were you." James nodded at Sirius and turned to walk off. Naturally, Sirius hadn't finished yet.

"Besides, there's only one person Moony likes, and it certainly isn't Alice." He said turning away also. Remus straightened up.

Remus gave him an annoyed look. "And who pray tell is that one person?"

"Me of course." Sirius smirked and Remus rolled his eyes, causing Lilly to admire how well he took to teasing.

"Wrong." James put his arm around Remus' shoulders. "Moony likes me the best." Remus sighed knowing exactly how Sirius would respond.

"No you're wrong. He defiantly likes me the best." Sirius pushed James away from Remus.

Remus watched with amusement as the two bickered in front of the entire school. Peter walked up to Remus, finally getting done with his DADA test.

"He likes me better!"

"No me." Lilly, as well as the entire school by now, watched as Remus' face turned into a smirk.

"You're both wrong." He said loud enough that they stopped and looked at him.

"What?" Sirius raised an eyebrow at him.

"You heard me, you're both wrong." Remus flung his arm around Peter's shoulder. "I like Peter the best." Sirius face-palmed. "Let's go, Peter." Remus kept his arm around him and stuck his tongue out at the two of them as they headed for the Gryffindor table.

Sirius and James looked at each other for a moment.

"I think we just got disused." James said feigning disappointment.

"I am going to have to agree with you there." Sirius could hardly keep from laughing.

James stuck his tongue out at Remus who smirked back. "Well fine. Who needs them." He put his hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Guess what. You have the honor of being my new favorite. Congrats pal."

Sirius didn't look quite as joyous about this as James had clearly been hoping.

"It's very comforting to know that I'm your backup, James. It really is." Sirius said sarcastically he headed for the table leaving James standing there with confusion plainly written on his face.

"What's wrong with being my backup? You should be honored to be my backup!"

Sirius laughed.

Lilly turned back to her food. Every once in a while she could understand why Remus put up with them. They did seem to care about him if nothing else. It was kind of them to defend him like that.

She would never think of them as any more than scatterbrained idiots though. That was a belief she would take to the grave, no matter how nice he turns out to be.


	61. The End of an Age sort of

Chapter 61

The End of an Age, sort of

"If Remus were here he'd be telling us to study for exams." James said tossing the book he'd been skimming though in a pile.

"If Remus were here we would be studying for exams… or sleeping, one of the two," Sirius replied not looking up from his book.

"Probably sleeping, considering it's midnight." Peter also added his two cents.

"Has anyone found anything useful yet?" James asked impatiently.

"If we'd found anything, we would have told you James."

"This is a waste of time, we can't do this Sirius, we are thirteen years old." James tossed the other book he grabbed in the pile not even looking at it.

"I'm twelve, thank you very much, and I am willing to at least try if it means that I don't have to sit here while one of my best friends tears himself to pieces and I sorry if I figured you would be too." Sirius said angrily, picking up James' discarded book.

James didn't respond at first, he just looked at the floor in between them all. He really didn't think they could do it. Was it right for them to risk death for all three of them, or worse risking them going to Azkaban? Wouldn't that just make things even worse for Remus?

What if they couldn't do it, what is the point in wasting all this time, if they can't do it.

"I'm sorry, James. I didn't mean to snap at you like that." Sirius apologized, placing the book down.

"It's ok, I just feel like we are wasting our time. I really don't think a bunch of twelve-year-olds can become animegi."

"We'll be thirteen by the time we start trying it, if that helps any? It'll probably take nearly a year to prepare for anyway."

"That doesn't help much." James said laying back on the floor. Sirius sighed.

"I'm not giving up." He said suddenly determined. "We can do it, because it's our only chance to help Remus, if you want to give up go right ahead, I'll do it alone if I have to."

James looked at him, "You won't be doing it alone I can promise you that. This will probably be the hardest thing we do in our entire lives you know that right?"

Sirius nodded at him.

"Fine if you're so determined, let's help Remus." James concluded.

"For Remus" Sirius answered

"For Remus!" James and surprisingly Peter shouted.

They continued reading though the night, getting about an hour or so of sleep once the sun came up so it wouldn't look like they'd been up all night.

They visited with Remus until Pomfery all but dragged them out of the room. After that they snuck to hogsmeade and bought some chocolates to give him when he got out of the hospital wing.

"Did you guys get much studying done?" Remus asked lying on his bed, Pomfrey preferred for him to rest a while, though he didn't always do that.

"Not really," Sirius said knowing lying wasn't a good idea.

"What were you doing?" He asked, clearly they hadn't been sleeping.

"We hung out with Frank." James answered not completely lying. They talked to Frank for about half an hour before heading upstairs to study illegal magic.

"Oh," Remus replied

"We should plan our end of the year prank." Sirius said getting excited.

They thought about what to do for a while,

"We haven't used mud for a big prank yet have we?"

"Ya, we did that spring break."

"Oh."

"What about we let a bunch of animals in the castle?"

"We did it already."

"Urg!"

"This is getting hard," James commented.

"What about turning everyone invisible? Is that above our skill level?" Remus asked.

"Moony, nothing is above our skill level." Sirius said smiling. "Let's try it." They piled out of the dorm and headed to the library again.

They, naturally, passed Evans and Snape in the library and James and Sirius couldn't help but make him mad.

They looked for a while, then practiced for a while, keeping out of sight so no one would know what they were up too. To everyone else it just looked like they were practicing for exams. This spell was not easy, they had to sneak back in the library after curfew then come back the next day before James managed to do it, let alone Peter. They couldn't do it all at once either, they had to do each student individually. Meaning one of them had to hide in James' invisibility cloak while the others tried to make up stories about why the other one wasn't there. James decided he would hide because he was the first one to get it and they didn't want to use up any more study time on this, besides the last Quidditch game was coming up.

There was no chance of Gryffindor's loss. Ravenclaw would have to beat them by nearly a thousand points for them to lose, and Gryffindor ended up winning by nearly three hundred points, but that doesn't mean that they were allowed to slack off. They still had three practices a week, five the week before the game. That of course was adding up with the huge amount of homework they had, they barely even had time to study, let alone waste so much time on a prank, not if they wanted keep from having to retake classes anyway. The exams were challenging but the only one that was worried about their score afterward was Peter. Even Remus felt confidant in himself.

Sirius quickly felt the looming dread catch up to him. Fast the time was approaching that he would be stuck in his depressing room for three full months. Regulus was already impossible to deal with, how bad would it be when it was Regulus and his mother and cousins. He missed the Marauders already.

A/N) I fixed the ending, sorry about that last one, it was bad.


	62. Home Again, Home Again

A/N I changed the ending of the last chapter, if you haven't seen it yet you may want to reread the ending. I moved some of the info into this chapter, it's not repeating itself.

Chapter 62

Home again, Home again.

Before they were ready, it was time to leave. Even James felt like he should be staying longer then he was. Only Remus was ready to go home, and that was only because he hadn't gone home for Christmas. Peter didn't seem to care either way, every time any of them mentioned it to him he just shrugged. It wasn't long into the ride that he convinced Sirius to help him with his homework so that he didn't have to do it on the way back to school in the fall. They each had developed their own way of getting him to talk to them when he was depressed, Peter's was asking for help, Remus would stand or sit by him and just keep silent eventually Sirius either got annoyed with the silence or decided he wanted to talk. James' way was the fastest, he'd make Sirius laugh, none of knew how James managed to do it, but he did and always got Sirius to talk. Remus and James' methods worked best when they were alone with Sirius, thus the reason Peter was using his.

The train ride was mostly quiet, they chatted a little but not much was said. It wasn't until they were nearly at the station that Remus found something to actually talk about.

"I can't believe Hufflepuff won the house championship." He complained. James sat up quickly.

"I know it's horrible. I mean we only were under by five points."

"Next year we have to make sure we win. It should be our personal mission." Sirius added managing to look away from the window that he'd been staring out of since Peter finished all the homework he was willing to do at the moment.

"I like that idea. That's what we'll do then." James nodded smiling. "Anyone object?" There was a moment of silence. "I'll take that as a no."

No one really had anything else to say after that, James was starting to get annoyed with the lack of communication.

"Hey Si, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

"You aren't as funny as you think you are you know." James rolled his eyes and Sirius smiled.

"What do you want?"

"How did you manage to get your school books? I didn't think your mom would take you to get them." Remus turned to Sirius as well now, he'd been wondering this for a while, but he hadn't thought to ask.

"She didn't. I swiped some money and snuck out."

"You can do that?"

"Sure, it's easy just make sure they're not around when using the floo powder." he shrugged and James laughed.

"The what powder?" Remus looked back and forth for a while while they just stared at him. James sighed.

"It's a transportation device, maybe I'll show you some time. Oh oh oh oh!" They all looked at him in surprise.

"What?"

"You should come over sometime and stay the night over the summer, you all should. That would be so cool!" James was nearly jumping up and down on his seat.

"I hate to say it but don't count on it, for me anyway. I can sneak out, but I can't stay out for very long. I can only sneak out long enough that she wouldn't know I was gone, she'd know if I did an overnighter."

"Aww" James looked like someone had just stolen his last acid pop.

"I probably can, depending on the date." Remus said, his parents would love the idea of him staying over at a friend's house.

"Or to be more specific the moon phase." James smirked.

"Shut up." Remus growled. "There are people in the halls you know."

"Oh come on, like the can even hear us. Let alone understand our conversation."

"I'm sure it's not that hard to hear over these thin walls."

"We can't hear them." Sirius told him, knowing that he doesn't have a way of knowing how well normal people hear.

"You can't?"

"Nope. Had no idea they were there till you said something."

"Oh."

They heard the whistle of the train go off.

"We're back." James said without much enthusiasm.

"I miss Hogwarts, but I also miss my mom. Those two are impossible to deal with at the same time."

"At least you have a reason to go home."

"And I count myself lucky for that."

"You better." Sirius said standing up and pulling his trunk from the storage compartment and then helping Remus with his.

They walked off the train together, determined to not split up until absolutely necessary.

"Mum!" Remus called loudly when he got a glimpse of her, and jogged over to her dodging the crowds of people. He gave his mum a hug and then did the same to his dad. Mr and Mrs Potter and Peter's parents were there as well and they all greeted each other. They talked, or most of them Sirius was still rather quiet, until people were finally starting to file out of the station.

"She came." Sirius said quietly. Remus followed his gaze.

Mrs. Black stood talking to her youngest son and his friends. Remus had seen Mrs. Black one time before, she was pretty as were all Blacks but you could tell it was only an outward appearance, maybe he was bias.

"Why she didn't come last year?" James asked not willing to look in the direction of his least favorite person on the planet. He hated her more than he hated Snape, and that was saying something.

"Regulus." Remus answered for Sirius. Sirius didn't really seem in the mood for talking.

"I think I'm going to go, before she sees me."

"Good Idea. See ya." James hugged him, Sirius wasn't real responsive. "I'll give you a date for meeting at Diagon Ally."

"Thanks." Sirius said and walked off. Thankfully she didn't seem to want to publicly humiliate him and just completely ignored him as they left.

"I hate her so much." James said quietly.

"At least we're going to Diagon Ally together."

"That's true."

"Just remember that when you get worried."

"I'll try."

"I know it's hard, James. Remember this, it will only last three months, and as soon as he's seventeen you don't have anything to worry about."

"That's true, that makes it a little easier."

"Good, I'm glad."

"I miss him already."

Their parents began to lead them out and they split ways with a hug. James followed his parents behind a magic wall that they could apparatus from behind so no muggles could see them.

James didn't eat dinner and went straight to bed he felt his mother's eyes following her.

Sirius didn't call him that night, or the night after. By the end of the third day he was laying on his bed staring at the mirror willing Sirius' face to appear on it.

It was another half a week before it did.

"SIRIUS WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!" James yelled scaring his father half to death. He'd taken to carrying the mirror with him everywhere, even to the bathroom. He was at the dinner table now.

"Don't do that to an old man, James. I could have a..." James didn't hear him, he'd already ran out of the room.

"Sorry, mate, they locked me in the basement. I told her to buzz off. It was worth it."

"You look awful."

"Thanks. I figured you were probably worried so I didn't want to wait till after I cleaned up. I think she told Kreacher to never clean the basement ever again like fifty years ago."

"Gross."

"Ya, I think I have cobwebs in my hair. Do you mind if I take a bath? We can still talk."

"No, go ahead. Have they been feeding you and everything?"

"Ya, Kreacher has been bringing me food, not enough but whatever, that's normal here."

"Is there a way I can send you mail or something? Maybe I can send it in the cloak."

"Why we can talk like this?"

"I know, but Remus keeps sending me letters that are for you and I feel uncomfortable reading them."

"I don't mind."

"I still don't feel comfortable."

"I guess if you used the cloak they'd never know. I can't send you anything back though."

"That's okay, I can write the response back to Remus. I'll send them by tomorrow morning."

"Okay, thanks." Sirius said, James could hear running water on the other end.

"Is July third a good day for Diagon Ally?"

"No, they've got some kind of party. They're forcing me to come."

"You would think they wouldn't want you to come?"

"I'm not allowed to be in the house alone. They're worried I'll bring a muggleborn over or something."

"Oh that makes sense."

"Besides they know I'll behave. Trashing one of the ministries parties is not something that even I would do."

"Ministries parties? Dad never mentioned having one of them."

"Most people don't take their kids, that's probably why."

"He normally asks me if I want to go."

"It's not for another month."

"Oh okay that would be why."

"Ya."

"Right, I don't want to wait that long to see you anyway."

"Same here." James heard Sirius say. His face disappeared from the mirror and James set it on the counter to give him a little privacy.

"So when is a good time to plan it."

"Two hours from now."

"I don't think Remus and Peter would get the memo in time."

"Darn."

"What about the 15th?"

"I really don't want to wait that long. I've been in the basement for like a week I kinda want to get out."

"Um, it's been a week and a half, Si."

"Please, please tell me your kidding."

"Sorry."

"Eh, I feel like I just wasted half my life."

"What about this Saturday? Can you wait till then?"

"I suppose, as long as I have my window open at all hours of day and night I can make it."

"Now your just being dramatic."

"Just a little bit."

"Is it really that bad?"

"My water is like five hundred degrees and I'm still cold. It's cold, dark, wet, there are spiders, and other creatures that I don't even want to begin to identify. Yes it's that bad."

"I'm sorry man, I'll send you something to make you feel better, how bout that?"

"I'm fine, James. After a while it'll go away."

"You're not going to change my mind."

"Fine, just be careful okay. I'm kinda on think ice at the moment."

"Ya, I can tell. Try not to mouth her off too much. I'd like to still have my best friend when I get back to school."

"I'd like for you to still have your friend when you get back to school too."

"Best friend, Sirius." James corrected.

"Ya, sure." Sirius acknowledged but didn't seem to be entirely convinced.

"Am I your best friend?"

"No."

"What? Who is?"

"Remus. You're my brother."

"Oh, right. He I forgot."

"I'm rather insulted Jamie."

"If you keep calling me Jamie I may just bump you down to just plain friend status."

"Eh that's okay. I think Remus is more fun."

"That hurt." James did a mock cry.

"You started the threat." James stuck his tongue out towards the mirror, counting on the fact that Sirius couldn't see him.

"Keep it up and a phoenix may just poop on your tongue some day."

"How did you know!"

"I know you better then James Bond knows how to use a gun."

"Who's James Bond?"

"A spy in a muggle movie."

"What's a gun?"

"I don't know James, I just heard Remus say the phrase once. I thought it sounded cool."

"You really shouldn't say things that you don't understand just because someone else said it, Sirius. It could mean something bad."

"James, this is Remus we're talking about."

"Oh, right. Ya you've got nothing to worry about."

"Ya, that's what I thought."

"Sirius."

"What?"

"You know no matter what happens you'll always be my best friend. Right?" James said glad Sirius couldn't see him at the moment. He heard Sirius pause what he was doing and there was silence on the other side for a moment."

"Ya, James I know."

"Good. Don't forget it."

"I won't, I promise."

"Good." There was a pause for a moment.

"James."

"Ya?"

"Thank you."

"Anytime, Si. Anytime."

They both hung up and James laid on his bed a while before falling asleep.

Nothing could ever separate them. Not even some stupid witch hag.

Especially if this witch hag was Sirius' mother.


	63. A Voice in the Dark

Chapter 63

Voices in the Dark

"Remus is late! Remus is never late, the world is going to end! I haven't even been able to come of age yet!" James banged his head on the table.

"Stop being so dramatic, James. Mum refused to let Dad apparate me so we came the normal way even though we had planned on being able to apparate, therefore we're late."

"Oh, so it's your mom's fault?"

"No it's Dad's, he didn't mention it ahead of time."

"It seems like it usually is your dad's fault."

"He doesn't really think things through very often. Kinda like, Sirius"

"Hey now. I wouldn't wait thirteen years before telling my wife I'm a wizard."

"Fifteen, and the only reason you wouldn't is because you couldn't stand to not use magic for that long."

"And because I'm not that stupid."

"My dad isn't stupid. He just doesn't think ahead."

"He really doesn't sound anything like you."

"I'm more like my mum."

"I can tell. Where is your dad anyway?"

"He wanted to go look at pets. He's wanted a cat for a long time, but we can't afford it. So he just plays with them."

"And the fact that it would hate you right."

"Ya, that too."

"Maybe that's why your owl glares at you all the time." Sirius offered having heard about it from James.

"No Romulus glares at everyone."

"Oh."

"Do we want some food?" James asked, mostly Peter and Remus already knowing Sirius' answer.

"I'm not hungry." Remus said while Peter said yes.

"Okay food for everyone I'll be back."

Remus rolled his eyes, he knew James wouldn't let him get buy without eating. The truth was he didn't have the money, but he knew James wouldn't have let him pay even if he did.

Sirius stood up and walked around the table to Remus. Before Remus could say anything Sirius pushed back his hair and examined a new scar.

"How did you see that from over there?" Remus asked trying not to blush.

"I have good eyesight. Did your dad clean this?" He asked.

"No my mum did."

"She's really good for a muggle."

"She went to nursing school."

"What's that?"

"Healing."

"Oh, is she a healer?"

"No, after I was born she decided she didn't want to work and my Dad's job was good enough that she didn't have to."

Sirius let go of Remus' hair and sat down beside him.

"What does your dad do?"

"Well before he met my mum he was a public speaker for a group I'd really rather not talk about. Now he's a journalist for a muggle newspaper."

"Do they make a lot of money?"

"Not really, we are just used to not having a whole lot, so we don't need a whole lot."

"Ya, it's probably worth it to have your mom at home." Sirius wasn't looking at Remus anymore.

"Does your mother work?"

"Unfortunately no. It would be nice to have her out of the house more often."

Remus didn't have a response for this, thankfully James came back with the food so the subject changed to food.

After that they went shopping. James bought Remus something from almost every store. Naturally there was nothing Remus wanted from the Quidditch shop but he made up for not spending anything on him there by buying him a lot of sweets at the candy shop. Remus tried to refuse to take it but when they left the shop he somehow found it in his pocket.

Halfway though the day James started buying things for Sirius too, as Sirius for some reason wasn't buying anything. He said he had the money but just didn't want to be caught with it, and since none of them could tell if he was lying James compromised. He bought him stuff, but he bought him little things that would easily be hidden. Sirius didn't seem to like this but he didn't complain as much as Remus did.

They ended up getting kicked out of four different stores because they were playing around with the merchandise and Remus made them swear they would never tell his dad.

By dinner time they were having so much fun that Remus' dad didn't even recognize Remus when they passed each other in a store.

They ate dinner with Mr. Lupin at an ice cream shop. Remus was quite hyper after the dessert, though that wasn't surprising. He had a very low sugar tolerance.

"Moony? What are you singing?"

"I don't know." Remus giggled. Sirius shook his head.

"At least sing something we all know the words of."

"But where's the fun in that?"

"Where indeed."

Remus' dad was watching his son with an surprised look on his face. He'd never seen Remus act like this, he was glad, but it was strange. Remus was always so reserved, has been his entire life. These boys could bring out a side of him his parents didn't even know he had.

"Where haven't we been yet?"

"To the sun!" Remus said pointing up.

"Moony, if you want to go to the sun be my guest. I though would steer clear of it. It would destroy my completion." James said. Remus started laughing so hard that he fell out of his chair.

"I swear we didn't drug him, Mr. Lupin."

"I am starting to wonder."

"He gets like this every once in a while, I knew we shouldn't have let him have fudge ice cream." James said, shaking his head.

"I think it's funny." Sirius was peaking under the table watching Remus.

"What's worse is that he thinks he's the mature one." James gave Sirius a smirk

"No, what's worse is that he is the mature one."

They both laughed at Sirius' comment. Remus finally managed to sit back up, still chuckling. He laid his head on the table and put his arms around his head to hide his chuckles.

"I'm serious, guys, where should we go next?" James asked talking more to Sirius than anyone else.

"No you're not, he is." Remus said pointing at Sirius. Sirius gave him a glare that made even sugar high Remus shut up.

"Don't make me give you a new scar, Remus"

They all looked at him, it wasn't often he used Remus' actual name, and even less often he threatened him. James and Peter he threatened all the time, but not Remus.

"Sorry, won't happen again. I promise." **(A/N and so do I A/N)** Remus knew he deserved that, that joke was almost worthy of getting him kicked out of the Marauders, another one like that and he had a feeling they might just be willing to do it.

"It better not."

"Wellllllllll," James said trying to break the mood "Let's go to the Caldron Top, I want to get some ingredients." James stood, not taking no for an answer.

"Do you mind if I meet you there? There's somewhere I have to go." Sirius asked dropping the subject so they all could just forget it.

"We can go with you. That's kinda what we're here for." James said a little confused.

"No it's okay." Sirius turned to half sit on the table so that Remus couldn't see his face and gave James a look that said 'just go with it.'

James got it. "Okay, if you're sure. You won't take too long will you?"

"Nah, just have to pick something up that's all." Sirius turned and ran off.

"Where's he going?" Remus asked.

"I'm not sure, but where ever it is I'm sure it's not somewhere we need to be."

"Should he really be going alone? I mean with what's been going on?"

"Nothing is going to happen in Diagon Ally, it's probably one of the safest spots in Britten, other than Hogwarts, St. Mungo's and the Ministry of Magic."

"Oh."

"What's been going on?" Mr. Lupin asked.

"There's this guy who's started attacking people, for no real reason at all. Mostly muggles and muggleborns but usually not in public." Remus answered.

"I don't get it, they really aren't all that different than us, not really." James said as they started to walk towards the potion shop.

"You really don't have anything to worry about, Mr. Lupin. The chances of being attacked are slim to none." Peter added noticing his worried look.

"Right, and there's even less reason to worry about Sirius." James reminded Remus.

"I know, I know."

SBSBSBSBSBSBSBSB

Sirius ignored the people around him, if you could even call them people. They looked like the undead. It wasn't the first time Sirius had been in Knockturn Ally so he was able to push past without too much trouble. Blacks never had a problem here, no matter who they were.

He walked farther than most people were willing to go, the farther you got from Diagon Ally the worse the people, and the shops, were. It didn't take long before he got far enough that there were dead bodies just lying around. The people around here were crazy and violent, you didn't last long being around them, unless you were a Black.

By the time he got to where he needed to go he was in the part he liked to label as Not-Even-Malfoy-Safe.

He walked into a store, normally stores in this area were for murderers or assassins or just plain maniacs. This store not so much, the only reason it was in here was because it was the best place to keep from getting caught by the Ministry of Magic. This store sold thousands of illegal or extremely rare items. Chances are they're stolen but some of them are bought as you can sell items to the shopkeepers. The merchandise ranged from illegal dark objects to torture devices to jinxed muggle objects. You would walk though the store and one side would be muggle pens that turn into goo when written with and the other side would be poisoned iron maidens. It was a very diverse store.

It was the only store that Sirius could find that would sell books on becoming an animegi, and all the ingredients needed for the potions, to underage wizards and actually had the original Ministry approved books (obviously stolen as the ministry reclaims all books when no longer being used so no one can sell it like this.) Sirius really didn't care how they got it, but he wanted it and was willing to pay for it. His parents would never even notice the large sum of money disappearing.

"Ah, a young Mr. Black. Welcome can I help you?"

"Why do you bother selling the little stuff? Anyone willing to come this far isn't looking for melting pens."

"Anyone who comes this far already knows what they're looking for, so Mr. Black what are you looking for?" The owner ignored the question and turned it back to him.

"I'm the one that sent you the letter three days ago."

"Ah yes, the animegi materials. I don't know why someone your age wants it and frankly I don't care but it you have the money I've got the merchandise."

"If I've got the money? Do you know who I am?"

"Of course Mr. Black, but I also know that you are twelve and not exactly in your families good graces if you know what I mean."

Sirius glared at him.

"You have overstepped your bounds do not think that I will not hurt you just because I am not the vile creatures they are."

The man looked a little scared. "Of course. I will bring it right out."

Sirius wondered what that would have looked like to others. A twelve year old boy intimidating a middle aged criminal; it must have been a sight to behold.

The man came out quickly and Sirius payed for his items, refusing to pay the full amount due to the hassle the man gave him. He didn't argue, having already been put in his place.

As soon as Sirius walked out the door he shrunk the items and stuffed him in his pocket with the things James had bought for him and looked around him. The ally was dark with the shadows of the buildings surrounding him.

"You are rather manipulative for a Gryffindor." Sirius heard a voice from behind him.

"That skill could be quite useful to me."


	64. Sirius' Choice

Chapter 64

Sirius' Choice

"Who are you?" Sirius turned around and pulled out his wand. He was a little overly cautious due to the area he was in.

He saw a man step towards him and take off his hood. He was very young looking and quite handsome. Though Sirius didn't notice he was trying to figure out where he'd seen him before.

"Your mother had me over for dinner one time a few years ago." He told him as though he knew exactly what Sirius was thinking.

"Voldemort."

"You have a good memory. I expected no less from a Black." Voldemort stepped towards Sirius again, Sirius backed up. "I was under the impression I scared you a little last time we met. May I assume from your body language that I am correct?"

"You weren't exactly a fun person to talk to."

"You were young then, the matters of importance were to you a bore."

"Well that and you were talking of murder and power. I have never been interested and still am not if that is what you are here for."

"I offer you something far greater than power."

"I already have everything I need thank you, and don't bother with 'if you join me your parents will love you again' it will not work, I chose my path."

"I offer you protection."

"I don't need your protection."

"I was not referring to you."

Sirius gave him a guarded look. "Then what were you talking about?"

"I was speaking of your friends." He said, somehow managing to find his one weakness.

"They don't need it either."

"On the contrary they do more than you know. The world is getting more and more dangerous each passing day."

"Yes, but guess who's fault that is, certainly not the ministry's. Your subordinates are the one that are causing it to be dangerous."

"Only further proof that it is only I that can protect them, my subordinates, as you call them, answer to me alone. They will leave your friends alone if I say."

Sirius looked away, he couldn't think of an argument. What if he was right?

"I will order my people to keep them unharmed in exchange for your loyalty. Are you not willing to do anything to protect them?"

Sirius remained silent.

"Your werewolf friend in particular, do you truly believe anyone besides yourself will protect him once he leaves school? After his seventeenth birthday he must register do you believe anyone will protect him when they know what he is? The Ministry of Magic is doing everything they can to destroy werewolves, who will protect him from that? You? You will be able to do nothing. You will be helpless." Sirius winced at his words.

"Join me Sirius Black and I can personally guarantee you that your friend will be safe."

"Why me? I'm twelve, what good can a twelve year old do? I cannot even legally use magic."

"That does not seem to stop you though does it? That is not important, there are skills you have that are of far greater importance than your magic skills at the moment."

"I- I..."

"Sirius!" Sirius turned to see James behind him.

"What are you doing man? It's been like forever." James walked up beside him, just now noticing Sirius' company.

"Who are you?"

"James let's go."

"What?"

"Let's go." He said and started pulling James behind him.

"Do not think you can run away from the choice Sirius Black. I will return for your answer."

They were significantly far away, nearly back at Diagon Ally, before Sirius slowed down and let go of James.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, James. Nothing."

RLRLRLRLRLRLRLRLRL

Remus paced in front of the store, Sirius had been gone for three hours now. James left to go get him after an hour. Remus was worried despite all their reassurances. Remus' dad was feeling bad because as the oldest he should have been the one looking for him but James had grown up in this setting while Lyall Lupin was entirely lost.

Finally they saw James and Sirius coming towards them, they both looked kind of lost. Remus ran towards them.

"What happened what took so long?" He asked.

"He got distracted by some guy and won't tell me who he is or what he wants."

"Sirius are you okay?"

"Ya, I just, I need to go."

"What?"

"I need to think, I need to go back."

Sirius and James looked at each other.

"But you hate it there."

"It's quiet in my room. I'll talk to you later."

Sirius walked into the store, presumably to use their fireplace, leaving behind a very confused group of people."

"I hope that guy didn't hurt him."

"I don't think we'll know if he did or not for a long time."

"Do we need to go anywhere else?"

"I don't think so."

"Maybe we should head back, we promised your mother we'd be back before it get's dark, and if we ride that stupid bus than we really don't have much time to spare."

"Ya let's do that. You'll talk to him about it right?" Remus looked back at James.

"Ya, it's going to bug me if I don't find out."

"Good."

"Remus,"

"What?"

"I don't know who that guy was, but he kinda scared me."

"Trust that instinct. It's stronger than you know." Remus said before following his father back to the Leaky Cauldron.

"Ya," James was silent for a while before looking up at Peter "Ready to go?" Peter nodded and they went back in the store.

A cloaked man turned away from the front of Cauldron's Top with a smile that would make anyone cringe.

The pawns were all in place and one was going to become a knight.


	65. Peeves

Chapter 65

Peeves

James dragged his trunk through platform 9¾ excited to finally get back to school. If he was being honest with himself he'd realize that he was only excited to see his friends, and possibly to hassle Sirius about what happened the month before. James asked and asked and asked and Sirius wouldn't say anything about it other than, "It's no big deal James" and then would change the subject to something he knew James would not be able to resist talking about. James usually didn't realize he was being distracted till after the conversation was over. This time he would not be distracted.

He hugged his parents goodbye and climbed into the train searching though the compartments for Sirius he knew last time Sirius got there really early so he figured he did this time too. He was right, Sirius was saving the exact same compartment that they had last year.

"Hey, Si."

"James. Hi."

"You seem excited."

"Why shouldn't I be? I'm going home."

James tried to not let the words distract him from the conversation, it was pretty sad that school was his home.

"True."

"Oh and guess what?"

"You sole something very sugary from the food trolly?"

"No, well yes, but I did pay for it."

"Ya I figured."

"How'd you know? Never mind, not important."

"What are you so excited about?"

"Andy got married!" He said happily

"That's great!... who's Andy?"

"My cousin you idiot. Andromeda."

"You hate your cousins"

"Not Andy. She's sane."

"Oh."

"She married Ted Tonks."

"Oh that's cool he's a nice guy."

Sirius just smiled and waited James a small amount of time passed.

"Wait, Ted's muggleborn."

"I know!" Sirius said excitedly. "She's been disowned."

"That's a good thing right?"

"Yep."

"Great."

"No one saw it coming she told me about a week before she ran off with him."

"How'd they hide it?"

"They didn't date, they were doing their prefect duties and passed each other in the hall every day. The last day they had to do it he asked her to marry him. She said yes. It was about two weeks ago that they got married, I got an invitation but she wrote me a note to not even consider going. So I wouldn't get in trouble."

"That was nice of her."

"I wanted to go, and I would have, if they hadn't been watching me like a hawk after running off for a whole day."

"What happened that day?"

"James, I told you it's no big deal! Way to kill my mood man."

"If it was no big deal it wouldn't be killing your mood."

"Yes it would.. is because I'm so sick of you asking me this."

"Then tell me."

"There's nothing to tell?"

"Than who was he?"

"I don't know."

"You do to."

"James, I'm really getting sick of this. Quit treating me like a liar."

"Then stop lying to me."

"What makes you think I am?"

"Because of the way you reacted when I found you. I'm not stupid, Sirius."

"I was just scared because I was in a dangerous place, that's all."

"You don't need to be alone to 'think' because you're scared, and you certainly don't go home because you're scared."

The door opened and Remus looked at them with a worried look, Peter was behind him, looking rather frightened.

"Are you fighting?"

"When aren't we fighting lately?"

"We wouldn't be fighting so often if you would tell me."

"There's nothing to tell!"

"James, leave him alone. He doesn't want to talk about it, we don't need to know everything about each other." Remus said calmly already having figured out what they were talking about.

"But..."

"You're making him lie to you and that isn't going to help anyone and it certainly isn't going to make him tell you."

"Fine." James dropped on the seat across from Sirius and sat sideways. He looked like he was ready to fall asleep. Peter sat by him in the space that was left and Remus sat by Sirius.

"Thanks."

"I really wish you wouldn't lie about it, if there is something going on tell him it's none of his business, he's more likely to leave you alone that way too. I learned that out the hard way." Sirius' gaze fell to the floor. "And remember, no matter what happens we'll still be your friends."

"Thanks."

James woke up halfway though the train ride and seemed to have completely forgotten about their argument and they were great friends again. James still asked him about it but he followed Remus' advice and said 'shut up it's none of your business' which actually Remus was wrong about, instead of leaving him alone, he laughed and asked again just for the fun of it.

When the trolly came by they found out what Sirius had swiped from it and before long they were back a Hogwarts. They had already planned out their beginning of the year prank.

When they were in the great hall. They were surprised to see Filch there, standing over Dumbledore's shoulder, and over his shoulder was something else.

"What is that? Remus asked Sirius when they sat down but Sirius didn't get a chance to answer as the first years came in. They all looked terrified.

"We didn't look that bad did we?"

"Yes," Remus answered forgetting about his question, "Because someone decided to tell everyone we had to fight a troll."

Sirius started laughing. "Did you fall for it Remmy?"

"No, my dad told me about it. Though I didn't really know what a troll was."

"Good for you."

They cheered when Arty Miller became a Gryffindor, as well as Sarah Jacson and three other first years.

"Not may of them this year." Remus commented.

"Welcome and welcome back." Dumbledore started his speech. "To our first years a few old rules the Forbidden Forest is prohibited and there is no magic in the hallways, including a few other objects, the list of objects, which seems to be growing at an alarming rate, (the marauders laughed) is now posted outside Mr. Filtch's office door for anyone who wishes to take a look.

"We would also like to introduce new and old students to Mr. Filtch's friend. He is to help keep things in line and to make things a bit easier for us.

"We would like the students to meet, Peeves the Poltergeist."

MWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPPMWPP

Peeves was a wretch. Everyone hated him. Everyone but Filtch.

By the end of the first week Sirius had ten detentions, James had eight, Peter had six, Remus had nine.

Nine. Remus. More than James!

That was what Sirius said to McGonagall when finally making a formal complaint, something he'd threatened for a long time.

"Maybe this will teach you all how important the rules are Mr. Black. It is a lesson you very much need to learn." Her response infuriated him.

"Remus! Remus doesn't break rules!"

"Mr. Black, I highly respect Remus he is a very smart, capable, and respectful wizard, but that most certainly is not true. I'm afraid you have influenced him far too much."

"Fine, but he doesn't break rules as much as James does."

"Granted." McGonagall nodded. "But detentions aren't given for doing what you're supposed to."

"Professor! This thing has got to go."

"I think Peeves is doing a wonder job, and you are only cementing that in my mind."

"Ahhh! I'm going to go nuts!" Sirius held his head in his hands.

"Don't be so dramatic, Sirius." McGonagall said holding back a laugh.

"I like drama."

"I know you do."

"Is there really no way to convince you to get rid of the horrid beast?"

"Sirius, I think by the end of your five more years here we may actually make you civilized."

"Hey I'm very civilized, I just choose to act crazy. You can't grow up in the Black household and not know how to act civilized."

"I know you can act civilized, but that does not mean you are civilized, Black. Being civilized is an internal thing."

"I used to be civilized; I didn't like it. Now I don't have to, so I'm not going to."

"If I hadn't met you before you came to school I don't think I could ever believe that."

"But you did meet me, so you know it's true."

"Just do me a favor."

"What?"

"When you get a girlfriend, use the civilized side please. I think everyone would appreciate it."

"I have not intention of getting a girlfriend, girls are weird."

McGonagall laughed. "Say that in public and you'll break every girl's heart within hearing distance, and maybe more."

"It's not my fault girls are naturally attracted to me."

"Maybe not, but you certainly don't try to help them out any."

"I like looking nice, and I'm not really used actually having a choice on how I look."

"I understand."

"I wish I could just leave. I want out so bad."

"What is keeping you there? You have other places you can go."

"Like where?"

"I'm sure any one of your friends would be willing to take you in till you turned seventeen."

"I can't impose on them."

"I am sure they would love to have you over, it would be like an early Christmas present for either of them, James especially."

"Sure,"

"What is keeping you there, Sirius?"

"Regulus."

"Your brother?"

"I guess I'm still hoping for him change his mind."

"Hm, what will it take for you to give up on him?"

Sirius was silent for a while.

"I don't know."

"Maybe it's something you should think about."

"Why is it that every time I come in here it turns into a therapy session?"

McGonagall laughed again. "Perhaps because that is what you truly want when you come in here."

"No I wanted you to get rid of that thing."

"It isn't going to happen."

"But why?"

"Sirius, this conversation is over."

Sirius whimpered a little but stood to leave.

"Try to be good, Sirius. I really don't want to have to give you detention that overlaps Quidditch tryouts."

"I'll try. Can't promise anything though. That's just how I roll." He said glancing behind him before walking out the door.

McGonagall couldn't help but laugh. Whatever woman ends up with that man is going to have her hands full.

And she didn't believe for a moment that he'd end up single. He was far to loving, and far to easily loved.

* * *

A/N) hey I figured out how to make a little line here ^ cool. ^_^ Anywho I know Voldy wasn't like he is in the hp book that is because he was trying to be persuasive, he didn't act the same way to Harry as he did to the that lady who owned Slytherin's locket or to Dumbledore.


	66. Rumors

Chapter 66

Rumors

Remus followed James and Sirius into the Great hall for breakfast the next morning as he did every morning.

They were chatting about Quidditch, they did that a lot, tryouts were next Friday. If Sirius got one more detention he'd have to skip one or the other, chances were it would be the detention he would skip.

His owl came in and dropped a news paper in his lap, along with a letter. He opened the letter first. He knew it was from his father, he was the only one he knew to get a newspaper. Actually he now got both a muggle and a wizarding newspaper. It drove his mum crazy that he got a muggle news paper, he worked for them, he already knew what was on it.

Remus,

I thought you might want to take a look at this, your friend, Sirius, too. Though it affects him more than you really, I know none of you get the paper so I figured it would be a good Idea for you to know, just in case people start acting strangely. It's on the front page.

Love you lotts

Lyall Lupin

Remus let Sirius read the letter looking at him with a confused look.

"What's it say?" Sirius asked referring to the newspaper.

Remus read it out loud.

Blacks Support Voldemort

In a recent meeting with the officials in the Ministry of Magic about what to do about the many murders of muggles and muggleborn wizards, Orion Black, the head of a family that keeps with the old traditions of having the oldest son head of the extended family, told the Minister of Magic that the Black family will always support Voldemort, when the mysterious stranger was mentioned as a possible leader of this group. He told them they have no support of this theory. When asked what the Black family would do if Voldemort was at the center of this he said, "Than if he needs some help with it he knows were to come" adding that it was about time someone did something about the muggleborns taking over theschools and workplaces, creating a very tense atmosphere as all Blacks are talented in creating. He refused to answer when the subject of his eldest son was brought up but many are under the impression Orion Black didn't seem particularly worried about the subject leading many to believe tumult in the Black family is merely a ruse to lure others into a false sense of security around the boy.

Remus stopped reading. "This is ridiculous. All they're doing is reading into one facial expression."

"That explains why everyone is acting strangely around me lately."

"Not everyone."

"A lot of people, all the Ravenclaws are though, and a few Hufflepuffs."

"They don't actually believe this junk do they?"

"Not the people who know him, but you don't really realize it but those people we don't respond with regularly have never really trusted Sirius. Too many of them have had their family killed by a Black. Anyone who got to know him knows this is a load of horsehocky. Anyone else though, just see him as a Black. A strange Black, but a Black all the same. When we're here we're kind of in our own little bubble, every once in a while someone else inters that bubble to talk to us but really our bubble is quite tight. I see it when I go home, people talk to me about him a lot."

"I never really thought about that."

"It's easier for you to never leave the bubble, when you go home you don't have much of the real world to pop it."

"I suppose."

"Whatever, it's not a big deal. Love me or hate me either way I'm still on your mind."

"Did you steal that from Shakespeare?" Remus asked

"Ya, I couldn't remember the exact quote though, so I paraphrased."

"Where did you learn about Shakespeare?"

"Muggle studies."

"Oh, how is it so far?"

"Well it's only been one class so there isn't enough to judge it. The teacher is interesting though."

"That's good."

"You know I think I might start getting these." James said completely oblivious to the change of subject. He was reading the rest of the newspaper.

"Why?"

"We should know what's going on, especially now that these attacks are a big enough deal for the Ministry to do something about it."

"I don't know, with what they just said about Sirius, it doesn't sound like something we should read, aren't there any other newspapers?"

"Nope."

"I agree with James." Sirius said. "I'd kinda like to know if they say anything else about me."

"That's true, I'll start getting them."

"Okay if you're sure."

"I am."

The next day Bellatrix Black became a confirmed Death Eater.

The day after that three more Blacks were confirmed Death Eaters.

After that day no one looked at Sirius the same again. No one but his friends.

When they walked to class everyone gave him, and whoever he was with at the time, wide birth.

Sirius pretended like he didn't care, but there was something in his stance, the way he was much more silent then usual. James and Remus knew that wasn't the case.

A month into the school year Sirius started having nightmares again. They had been so relieved when it stopped, but now they were back again.

And these ones were different. When Remus would wake him up, he wouldn't sit there and calm himself down. He ran to the bathroom locking it so no one could follow and would stay in there all night. Remus tried to ask him about it but he wouldn't say anything. He wouldn't even tell Remus to leave him alone. Every time one of them brought it up he would get quiet as though he didn't know how to speak. They stopped asking very quickly.

The Marauders weren't quite so active as they normally were, normally they would have the entire school in an uproar by Halloween, but with Sirius acting so strange and Peeves cracking down on everything it was Halloween and everything was strangely quiet. Their first Hogsmeade trip had gone by, Sirius had to sneak out as his parents wouldn't have even considered giving him permission if he'd asked. They planned a Halloween prank, but they knew they were walking on eggshells.

On the day of Halloween they were reading tea leaves in Divination it was their first time actually doing it, before they looked at examples and memorized the meanings of common signs. The teacher partnered them up, with much complaining from the students, Sirius' partner ended up being Lily Evans. He was surprised she was even in Divination until he remembered she was a muggleborn, muggles always were intrigued by the ability to see into the future (he learned that in Muggle Studies. He really enjoyed that class.)

"All right I want you all to drink up, don't do it quickly or you may mess up the results." The teacher, Mrs. Brown, informed them. Lilly seemed to be regretting taking the class the second she heard her name pared up with his.

After a while while the teacher was dealing with someone who was allergic to tea she told them to trade cups and try to interpret the meaning behind the formation of the leaves. Sirius started.

Hers was obvious. "Someones going to ask you out. You'll say no."

"What?" She asked not expecting him to answer so soon. The teacher noticed it too. She took the cup from him to make sure he wasn't making it up. He wasn't.

"Do you have any seers in your ancestry?" She asked a few people laughed.

"Ma'am, I'm a Black, I have everything but muggle in my ancestry."

Lily laughed quietly, as though she was ashamed that she was laughing at his joke.

"Right of course. Well you can certainly tell, you'll do well in this class." She said placing the cup in front of him.

"Any way to tell who it's going to be?" Lilly asked, not really out of curiosity and more of joking.

"Um, who ever it is it's not someone you have a crush on." Sirius shrugged she laughed and peeked at his cup worried that he'd show her up. The design on the cup wasn't anything she'd ever seen before.

"Professor, I don't understand what this is. It isn't in the book"

"What does it look like, sweetheart." Mrs. Brown asked walking back over to the table.

"A skull with a snake coming out of it's mouth."

* * *

A/N) Mwahahaha hehe


	67. Dealing with the Poltergeist

Chapter 67

Dealing With the Poltergeist

Everyone knew about the tea leaves, the entire school came to Lilly to ask about the sign, none of them were going to ask Sirius except for those that already knew him personally, and even some of them didn't ask him about it.

No one knew what it meant.

The teacher had been unable to give Lilly an answer. Every once in a while you would get a dud cup, one that didn't really mean anything, but never would you get a dud cup with such a clear picture on it. She looked though their textbook, she looked though all the books she had in the room, there was no hint this picture even existed in the world of tea leaves. It scared him. Whatever it was it could not be good. He looked at it and a sense of dread filled him. What if it was some kind of rare death omen or something. Even James couldn't shrug it off. James has never believed in fortune telling, but when he saw the cup after Sirius showed it to him he felt his hair stand on end, though he had no idea what it meant either.

He tried to tell Sirius it was no big deal though, to make his friend feel better.

Their plans for a Halloween prank kind of went down with Sirius' mood. They didn't do it, it really wasn't worth the risk at the moment. With Peeves pressing down on them chances are they would get expelled or something. James was a little worried they would think they finally knocked down the Marauders.

The biggest thing that kept Sirius going was the animegi studies each full moon night. They went down to the room of requirement to study, it had a few books of it's own to share some information on the subject.

"Okay so we know what we need to get started, now how do we get started?" James asked as they sat in the bean bag chairs that littered the room to make it a more comfortable study place.

"Well we have to figure out what our animal forms will be before we can start becoming them."

"How do we do that?"

"I'm not sure, the book has a potion but it's really complicated and it has to be outside and we really can't risk that unless we take it to the forbidden forest and that isn't a good idea. Any animal could come along and ruin it, and with Peeves running around we'll get caught."

"Isn't there any other way to find out?"

"Maybe it's our favorite animals?" Peter suggested.

"No, it has more to do with our personalities than our favorites." Sirius answered reading though another book.

"Bet you half my bank account Sirius will be a dog."

"Shut up, James!" Sirius dropped his head into the book.

James laughed.

"What about patronus?" Peter tried again

"What?"

"Well we learned about them in DADA the other day. The things that ward off dementors, don't they take shape from our personalities also?"

Sirius didn't answer right away.

"I think Peter might be on to something, Si."

"It might work."

"Can't hurt to try." James suggested.

"Never say that while trying to become an animegi, James, because chances are it can and will hurt."

"Okay, so what are the objections to trying a patronus?"

"Well I'm not sure, this book says that other methods can be used, so it is possible it could work. The biggest problem is that no matter how good of a patronus you make you will never know everything about that animal because you'll never see the color of it. Patronus are always silver no matter what."

"Do we have any other options?"

"Not really."

"Let's try it then." James stood and began to pace. "We need to learn how to make a patronus." He said suddenly a new bookshelf appeared and James went over it. He pulled out one called _Finding__Your__Patronus__Memories__ "_Well are we ready?"

"I hope so."

RLRLRLRLRLRL

Remus woke that morning looking at three very tired looking friends.

"What did you do all night?" He asked wincing at the weakness in his voice.

"Nothing important Rem." Sirius said sitting at his feet, James stifled a chuckle.

"Okay."

"We brought you some chocolate." James handed Sirius a bag.

"Thanks."

Remus watched them that day, trying to figure out what was more important than their sleep. They didn't give any clues so he assumed it was one of Sirius' nightmares again. Then he started trying to figure out why they all the sudden came back.

"We need to do something about Peeves." James said standing and pacing the common room distracting Remus from his thoughts.

"Like what? It's not like we can banish him or anything." Sirius said. He was sitting sideways in one of the chairs watching James pace back and forth.

"Maybe we can recruit him. Turn him into Marauder material."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Remus said looking around him to make sure no one could hear them.

"Convince him to prank someone. Isn't it natural for poltergeist to you know stir up trouble?"

"He is stirring up trouble. Trouble with me."

"Let's see if we can redirect that trouble."

"I can't imagine it happening, James."

"Can't hurt to try."

"You really need to stop saying that."

"Whatever. Are you guys willing to try? What else are we going to do all year? Homework?"

"Oh no not homework." Remus said sarcastically.

"Exactly" James said ignoring the sarcasm.

"I guess there really is no reason to not try. I'm up for it."

"This isn't going to work, but I'll go for it."

"Me too." Peter said worried about being left out.

They went to find Peeves, which was harder then they expected.

He ended up being in the great hall telling off a few first years for laughing to loud while others were trying to study.

"Peeves, come here." James said with an authority that rivaled McGonagall.

Peeves did as he was told and followed them out of the great hall.

"You're doing this all wrong man." James told the poltergeist shaking his head and looking disappointed.

"What?" Peeves looked curious.

"There's only one way to teach first years to be quiet."

"How's that?"

"Drop water balloons on their head!" Sirius said excitedly, answering before James could.

"What?" Peeves looked confused now. "That's not allowed."

"What's worse, them making all kinds of noise and distracting the students from something so important as studying, or letting a couple kids get wet."

"Well..."

"Come on, man. You're the only one that can do it. We'll all get in trouble."

"Peeves looked unsure."

"Look mate, we've learned that what we were doing was wrong." Sirius said lying though his teeth. "We want to help them, but we aren't aloud, we don't want to do what we aren't aloud to. You taught us that, go do the same for them."

Peeves finally nodded and headed though the ceiling.

"You think he's going to get water balloons or Filtch."

"The water balloons."

When Peeves got back they watched him drop the balloons on the first year's heads. They laughed so hard. Peeves came back to them while they were still laughing.

"That was great man. You're a natural."

"Natural at what?"

"Making people laugh. You'd be a great prankster."

"Pranks aren't aloud."

"I know, it's horrible, it's like no one is aloud to laugh."

"Laugh?"

"Ya, that's the purpose of practical jokes, to make people laugh."

"Really?"

"Ya, it's a completely innocent pass time, and I can tell by your face you enjoyed it."

"It was fun."

"See, and it made everyone laugh. What is wrong with that?"

"I don't know."

"That's what you should do, you should spend your time making people laugh, not make them cry because they have so many detentions."

"I don't like crying."

"Neither do I mate."

"Make people laugh. Okay that's more fun."

"Ya." Peeves zoomed off, hopefully to resign from doing Filtch's dirty work.

"You two are extremely manipulative." Remus shook his head at them with an amused smile.

James smirked. "Just doing our school a favor." He looked at Sirius, but Sirius wasn't paying attention.

Sirius had his voice running though his head.

"_You are rather manipulative for a Gryffindor."._

"_That skill could be quite useful to me."_

He'd been hearing Voldemort's voice in his head a lot since that day in Knockturn Ally. Heard it even more often in his dreams, though it was usually saying something else in his dreams. Telling him what to do telling them why he should join him. Reminding him of the protection his friends would gain. Sirius tried to push it from his mind but he couldn't do it. He knew his friends were in danger, he knew that Remus would be completely hopeless after graduation without James' help. He could think of no way to help. No way but this. This was such a strong push though. Was he willing to become a murderer for Remus. For James?

He knew he'd kill anyone who tried to kill them, was this really all that different?

Of course it was Voldemort's people killed innocents, he could never do that.

Could he?


	68. The New Poltergeist

Chapter 68

The New Poltergeist

Filch was furious.

Peeves was causing more trouble than he had fixed.

The Marauders decided to label him as their Halloween prank. Telling Dumbledore by way of words writ ten in fire at dinner that day...

The Marauders would like to introduce Hogwarts to the New Peeves the Poltergeist

We have found his true calling...

James wrote the words this time, he was practically bouncing at the thought of it finally being his turn before dinner had begun.

We are quite offended to think that you thought he may be able to rid you of us

So we choose to think you were merely providing us with a new friend.

And we choose to thank you.

Happy Halloween!

McGonagall moaned, she'd had two suspects for Peeves' change. These Marauders or Sirius and James. She was even about ready to call the boys into her office. Well she didn't have to do that anymore.

The only ones that were happy about the Marauders Halloween message was those that had obtained detentions from Peeves, witch really was the majority of the school.

Peeves hadn't been a well liked addition to the school.

By the end of the week he was even less liked.

He played tricks on everyone, he was thoroughly enjoying his new life, and the Marauders were thoroughly enjoying watching him enjoy himself.

He even played tricks on the Marauders, or tried to anyway. For the most part he was successful, but no one could prank Sirius... No one. Peeves never gave up trying though thus the reason James, Remus and Peter found themselves trapped in a very sticky goo two weeks later as Sirius stood outside of it laughing at them.

Peeves joined in laughing untill he realized Sirius wasn't in the goo pile. He looked from Sirius, who was now smirking at him, to the other Marauders and back.

"Nice try, but no can do." Sirius told him leaning up against the wall. Peeves pouted a little before floating away to think of a new plan to try out.

"Wait? How are we getting out?" Remus asked. Sirius laughed again and got out his wand, vanishing the goo.

"Woah, when did you learn vanishing?" Remus asked.

"Just recently," Sirius answered.

"That's pretty cool."

"Can we head back to the dorm? I feel really gross," James said, as he was still rather sticky.

"Ya, me too." Remus agreed.

"Ah, yo sissies." Sirius smirked at them.

"Please if you were in our place you'd be crying." James rolled his eyes at him.

"Not crying no, but very upset... but I'm not in your place so it doesn't matter. I wasn't stupid enough to fall for it.

James looked shocked, "hey don't talk about Moony like that." He said giving Remus a one armed hug.

"He was talking about you too."

"Shhh, Moony, don't talk to the crazy person," he said now pulling Remus gently away from Sirius.

"I was talking about you, James."

"I don't know what you're talking about Remus."

"James, if you don't let go of me we are going to end up stuck together and I promise I will rip you off me, how ever painful it will be, before I take a shower with you." Remus told him very calmly, causing the words to sound very menacing. James instantly let go and took two steps away.

Sirius' laughter didn't subside untill they were in the shower and he was alone in the room. When they came out they saw him doodling on their Map. James watched as he drew an excellent image of the whomping willow.

"I thought we were done with that by now," he said hiding his surprise at Sirius' drawing skills.

"I was thinking about it. I don't think we should just leave it as it is. What if someone finds it. It's kinda dangerous, I don't want anyone, but us, to be able to find secret ways into Hogwarts," Sirius replied, looking up from the page. James thought about it. It was true, the map could be potentially harmful, but still...

"Why would anyone else find it? It's not like we're going to leave it laying around somewhere." He shrugged, passing it off as a waste of time.

"No James, Sirius is right. Just because the chances are slim doesn't mean we should be taking chances. With all the stuff going on in the news... and to tell you the truth I don't know that we can trust everyone here," Remus argued, he was glad, as well as a little worried, that Sirius had thought of it. Sirius knew way to much about how things could be potentially abused.

Sirius turned to look at Remus. "I know you can't trust everyone here, and if we can figure out how to sneak ingo their common room, they can figure out ways to sneak into ours. I'm sure of it."

"That's a scary thought." James repressed a shutter. "So what can we do?"

"I haven't decided yet."

"It does no good to hide it, then even we can't use it and it becomes a waste of time and effort," Remus decided.

What if there is a way to hide it in plain sight? Like make a way that only we can see it?" James sat on his bed and tired to think, but nothing came to mind.

"That's pretty advanced magic. I don't think I know haw to do something like that."

"But I thought you could do everything, Sirius."

"Shush! we were supposed to keep that between the two of us!" Sirius joked.

"Woops, I forgot."

"Some friend you are."

"Hey now. Them's fighting words right there." James laughed.

"Please... like you'd ever be able to hold your own against me."

"I could in muggle fighting," he defended.

"James, a ten-year-old could beat me in muggle fighting. That is if I didn't decide to cheat."

"You're willing to admit that?" Remus asked, worrying for his friend's sanity. Half the time Sirius was as proud as a Jack Russell Terrier, but other times he seemed surprisingly insecure. Only James seemed to completely understand the defective mind of Sirius Black sometimes. Remus laughed, partly due to his own train of though and partly because, as he was speaking, James asked..

"You'd cheat against a ten-year-old?"

"Yes to both questions," he answered without hesitating.

"What a bum."

"I never claimed otherwise," Sirius shrugged. "If anyone attacks me fighting fair is the last thing on my mind."

"And all Morals fly out the window?"

"Fighting children who are attacking you and are only three years younger then you is immoral?"

"Okay, you've got a point on the three years younger thing... What if they were younger? Say a six-year-old, what then?"

"Why in the world would a six-year-old be attacking me?"

"Imperuas curse," how James was able to answer with no emotion on his face they would never know.

There was silence for a while as Sirius tried to thing about the answer.

"I suppose it would depend a lot upon the circumstances. Bit if I couldn't find any other way... I wouldn't like it, bu I probably would not hessitate to fight back, even if they were using a child. Am I awful for it?

"No. I think I would too. Especially if someone else's life depended on it."

There was silence as they slowly realized what they were talking about.

"This talk never happened. We never even considered that children could be used as weapons. This subject doesn't leave our mouths and we shall never speak of it again," Remus said, horror evident on his face.

"Speak of what?" James agreed.


	69. Unlikely Defence

Chapter 69  
Unlikely Defence.

"James, what is a wizarding war really like?" Remus asked on a cold September day as they walked back to their dorm from Ancient Runes together. Sirius and Peter always met them on the way there not long after class was out.

"They're really bad, a lot of people die, we don't have wars as often as Muggle do, but when we do they are worse and they last a lot longer." James answered shaking his head. That was one thing he and Sirius had learned quickly from their Muggle studies class, Muggles fought a lot, but they were short fights. A war lasting only 100 years was a big deal to them. It was rare for a wizarding war to last only a hundred years, and it was a big deal if a war could truly end in one person's lifetime, which James also learned was longer then the average muggle. Sometimes there would be false ends, someone would give in, a leader would be killed, sometimes just a long period when nothing would happen, but it almost always was temporary. Wizards were not a very forgiving group of people.

"You don't think this'll turn into a war... do you?" Remus asked hesitantly, that hadn't been the answer he was hoping for. The newspaper was covered with bad news every day from front to back, the attacks are getting worse. People were now dieing daily, muggles mostly... but half-bloods were now being targeted as well. It wouldn't be too long before witches and wizard began to stand up to protect them, that is when pure bloods would end up in the obituaries as well.

James looked at Sirius who didn't look back, he seemed to be lost in thought, before answering. "I don't know, Moony. But I really hope not"

The silence that followed was only broken by the small group of girls walking in front of them coming from the same class they had just walked out of, the girls' conversation was easy to hear and it was pretty obvious that the group could overhear their conversation just as easily.

"All this stuff in the newspaper is just depressing." One of the girls said, giving a sigh that gave no sign of sympathy, just annoyance and irritation. "I wish people would just get over it, I'm so sick of all the drama all the time." She continued.

One of the others nodded in agreement. "Oh, I know. All this junk is taking up all the space for the good stuff, I haven't read my horoscope in two months!" she complained as though is was a tragical of the highest caliber.

James noticed one of the other girls in the group had red hair so bright he'd recognize it anywhere.

Lilly Evans gave the two of them the dirtiest look she could make, and it was one impressive dirty look, "You are kidding, right? because that is a sick joke. You can't seriously think that. People are dieing, kids are losing their mothers and fathers, there are children being murdered, and all you can say is that they should get over it."

"Please, Lilly," the first girl mockingly rolled her eyes at the other as though they got this kind response a lot. "None of that is really even important, I mean come on. Most of it is probably fake anyway, I..."

"Not important!" She stopped walking the other two did the same. They looked at each other, sharing an inside joke. The Marauders knew it was eve's dropping, and they knew Evans would tell them off for it, but suddenly this conversation had taken their full attention and they didn't even try to hide it, they stopped in plain sight just behind the girls who were now turned to face each other. "If you weren't my roommates..." Evans trailed off unable to finish the sentence making gestures in the air due to her read-headed anger flaring up.

"Besides," The girl continued, ignoring, or perhaps enjoying, the fact that anything more she said would just make her roommate even more angry. "I already know how to fix the problem, and if they don't then that's their own problem." She said with a smile. "If they would just take out the trash every once in awhile," she paused for a moment. "Throw them all in Azkaban if you ask me, but no, instead they're letting them loose to do what ever they darn well please. Even..." Her eyes flickered to Sirius, purposely making it known exactly who she was talking about and her tone became cruel "letting them walk around in a school full of children."

Remus latched himself onto James' arm the moment he sensed trouble out of his friend, and it was a good thing too, as James instantly moved to tackle the girl. James wasn't above fighting a girl who deserved it.

Sirius said nothing, his eyes narrowed and his look hardened, but he said nothing.

It was Lilly that retaliated with no restraint. And girls fight with words.

Lilly's eyes did not turn from the offending girl, "You're pathetic, Emma. You make me sick, your solution to war is to throw innocent people in prison. Yes, I'm sure that will work, stick one of the strongest, reliable Gryffindors in Azkaban. Heaven! If you ever end up in a position of power remind me to kill myself right then and there because we'd all be dead." Lilly retaliated harshly. The Marauders looked at her in surprise, no one had expected her to defend Sirius, especially not Sirius.

Emma looked at her with a degree of shock. "Reliable? Seriously, Lilly? You can't go a single day without complaining about pathetic Potter and his ridiculous friends."

"Sure they're idiots... Black especially. But they aren't murderous idiots. I mean, really? I hate them all but they're just immature bullies... nothing more."

Emma made a noise that girls do when their extremely annoyed but can't think of a good enough response, and walked off. The other girl followed with an amused look on her face that told everyone she liked drama a lot more than she acted like she did.

Lilly finally looked at the stunned faces of the Marauders.

"This doesn't mean I like any of you." She said flushing a little at the expression on their faces. "I still hate you all." She quickly turned around and continued heading back to the dorm trying to pretend like nothing had ever happened...

James however... was never the same again.

He didn't realize it, but he began to watch her. To look for her in any place that he could expect her to be. By the end of the week he had her seat in every class they shared memorized. By the end of the month her eyes were his favorite color.

He didn't know it, but he was beginning to fall for Miss Lilly Evans... and he was falling hard.

Peter was the first to notice, he didn't say anything, he never did. What good was saying anything when you couldn't do anything about it. He didn't know why James watched Evans during classes, or looked for her during lunch. He only watched. It was probably nothing anyway.


	70. Despair

Chapter 70  
Despair

Remus hated the moon. He hated that he couldn't sleep. Sirius had asked him once why he had so many books when he didn't really read all that much. Sure he read more than Sirius and James combined if you didn't count school books... but in reality it wasn't all that much. At that time he couldn't give an answer. He couldn't tell Sirius that he had read half of them within a school year. That he read while the others were sleeping, that he got no more than five hours of sleep most nights. At that time Sirius didn't know that he slept in the bed right next to 'a monster.'

Sirius and James hated it when he called himself that, 'a monster.' He just laughed, whether they liked it or not it was true, and not all monsters are bad. Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, that's what he was. A good person who just had no control. He'd never really had any control...

His train of thought trailed off as he sensed a change beside him. He gave a sigh and got up off the bed.

Not again...

He walked over to the bed next to him and pulled the curtains back before noticing something wasn't right. Sirius wasn't moving, when Sirius had nightmares he was everywhere tossing from one side to his back, then curling up on his otherside... just always moving as though trying to escape.

This time Sirius was still. His breathing was heavy, very heavy, but still. The stillness unnerved Remus and he shook his friend. Sirius' eyes opened, but remained still, he wasn't stiff, just unmoving. Sirius blinked, his mouth opened just slightly as he looked at a very confused Remus.

"Sirius?" Remus said lightly. Sirius didn't respond, but as he looked at Remus his expression changed. His eyes widened, as did his mouth. The look on face quickly changed to horror, complete and utter horror.

Before Remus could even consider reacting Sirius jumped out of his bed in such a hurry that he pushed Remus to the ground and ran into the bathroom slamming the door loudly as he passed it. It was all Remus could do to sit there and stare at the door.

"What in the..." Remus heard James voice from the other side of the room as the older boy was startled awake. He slowly lifted himself off the ground as James turned to look at him. "What in the world is going on?"

"Nightmare..." Remus said still facing the door. "I think."

"You think?" James asked, unsure of how something like that could be unclear. Remus finally turned to face him. "I normally wake up to the sound of his voice when he has nightmares... not the slamming of the door."

"He didn't say anything. He didn't even move. Something's wrong, James, he never acts like that after a nightmare."

James didn't answer, for a moment he just stared at the bathroom door before he climbed out of bed.

"What are you going to do?" Remus asked moving a little away from Sirius' bed.

"I'm going in there. He needs to talk about it, and he needs to do it before it gets any worse." James reached the door and gently opened it. He saw Sirius hovering over the sink, his hair hiding his face.

"Sirius." James took a step into the bathroom towards his friend when suddenly the door slammed shut in his face.

James gave a yelp as he landed on his backside and reached for the foot the door had ran over.

"What was that?" Remus asked taking a step towards James.

"He slammed the door on me. He wasn't even near the door!" James exclaimed, now he was getting frustrated.

"But his wand is out here." Peter said clearly having woken up not long after James.

"It was an emotional response." Remus sighed, "like when we were kids we did magic that we didn't mean to do when we're angry or sad. Like I run crying to my mother about some bullies and suddenly another mother finds her kid got stuck in a slide because the slide somehow became three sizes smaller just as the kid was in the middle of it... you know stuff like that."

James stood and pounded on the door. "Darn it, Sirius! Talk to me!"

Throw them all in Azkaban if you ask me

Sirius clutched his head still hovering over the sink.

Instead they're letting them loose...  
in a school full of children...

Sirius backed away from the sink till his back hit one of the bathroom stall doors, still holding his head as images and voices flooded through his mind.

A distrustful look from his peers as he walked the halls,

Orion Black didn't seem particularly worried about the subject leading many to believe tumult in the Black family is merely a ruse to lure others into a false sense of security around the boy

An unrecognizable mark in a teacup

You are rather manipulative for a Gryffindor.  
That skill could be quite useful to me.

A crest with the label Toujours pur at the bottom

You are a Black You will always be a Black  
Whether you like it or not you are one of us  
And if you don't start acting like a Black so help me I will make you regret the day you ever set foot in Hogwarts, boy

Sirius paced, still holding his head trying to will the voices away. He wasn't one of them, no matter what they did he was different, better. He was good! He wouldn't do that! His friends! His friends cared... they knew who he was, they trusted him.

We are not sure if you know this... but you are the first person Remus has ever called his friend. In his letter to us you were the first one he mentioned... Remus has changed quite a bit since we watched him go on the Hogwarts Express and every change we have seen has made him a better person...

Roses are red; Violets are blue  
Monkeys like u should be kept in zoo.  
Don't feel so angry you will find me there too  
Not in cage but laughing at you.

I picked this up and this was the first thing I saw. I just had to get it, if only for the memory, it was our very first prank. I can still remember Snivellus' face...

What do you want, Black?

James' cold voice ran through his head as memories became indistinguishable from dreams.

What is wrong with you! Who do you think you are man!

Sirius fell to his knees trying his hardest to get the cruel voice out of his head, only for Remus' to join it

I thought you were our friend, we trusted you, Sirius... I trusted you.

So what? You're one of his flunkies now? So that's the thanks we get for helping you all these years?

"No" He whispered, stood and rested his back on the bathroom stall as his mind seemed to rip itself apart.

This is how you repay me for helping you!

We had a deal... Don't forget that... Black

Throw them all in Azkaban if you ask me

Throw them all...

I stood up for you! I didn't even like you and I defended you!

You're no different than they are. You may have deceived me once... but I know the truth now  
I know who you really are.

You are not content to hide in the shadows... but with the right, or wrong as many would say, influence you could easily become that way.

"If only it wasn't too late for you to take it back."  
His father's lips curled into a smile that reached his mothers eyes

Eventually you will become like them. You will become the perfect Slytherin.

A bright green light blinded him for only a moment

Choose, Black.

Do not think you can run away from the choice Sirius Black. I will return for your answer.

Choose between a life time of your own pain or a lifetime of causing other people pain

Choose, Black.

Choose, Black!

Tears finally began to escape his eyes and he moved to the sink as though to wash them away... the strength failed him and all he could do was stand there and try not to look in the mirror.

Well well well, another Black is it

No! He wasn't just another Black... He was okay! He didn't belong with them. His eyes finally lifted to the mirror, but his face wasn't what he saw there.

His mother's once beautiful eyes, now hardened with anger and madness

His father's lips, opened only when there were harsh words to be said

The hair belonged to all of them... as cold and black as their hearts

Sirius backed up, searching... searching for anything that wasn't theirs... finding nothing

"No..." He cried softly "No"

He closed his eyes and reached for the closest thing he could find.

The scream and crash could be heard through the boys dorm.

James instantly rose from where he sat on the end of his bed. All three of them stiffened at the noise, and the lack of noise that followed it.

"That's it." James' determination could be heard in his voice. "I'll kick it down if I have to." James reached for his wand and attempted to unlock the door, though was very surprised when it actually worked.

"Peter? Will you go make sure everyone outside stays outside, they will have heard that." Remus asked following James into the bathroom, Peter nodded and did as he was told.

James entered the bathroom and was able to easily find the source of the crash, the spiderweb cracks in the mirror didn't leave much room for guessing. What James was more concerned about was his best friend, who was now on the floor curled up as tight as he could get sobbing uncontrollably. James and Remus ran to him quickly, sitting on either side of him before noticing he was whispering to himself.

"I don't want to hurt anyone." He sobbed before repeating "I don't want to hurt them."

"Sirius you aren't going to hurt anyone." James countered putting an arm around the other's back, Remus held on to Sirius' arm, tight enough to be felt, but loose enough to be kind.

"I hurt her." Sirius argued, giving the first sign that he actually knew they were there.

"No, Sirius, it was just a dream." Remus added, reinforcing James' statement.

"I enjoyed it." he said almost to quiet for them to hear.

"Sirius, it was a dream..." James began, but Sirius interrupted moving violently as though trying to pull them off.

"No! No it wasn't! I killed her and I enjoyed it." Sirius sobbed, no longer moving and trying to curl himself even tighter, though it wasn't exactly possible.

"Dreams don't mean anything, Sirius, just a product of your imagination..."

"After..." he paused unable to continue through the sobs. "After I woke... I was happy." He managed to choke out. James and Remus looked at each other, neither could think of a response.

"I don't want to hurt anyone." he cried and they held him tighter unable to say anything to help. Sirius curled into James' shoulder. "I feel like I'm drowning." Sirius whispered so low James could only hear it because Sirius was so close to his ear. "Save me."

James' heart broke at the helplessness in his friend's voice.

"Help me."

"I suppose..." James began, hoping it would help. "I suppose it's a good thing we are great swimmers then." He gave a sad smile to Remus who simply closed the distance an hugged Sirius as well. Sirius just sat there and cried tears he'd been wanting to cry for months, tears of fear, confusion, dread, and anger.

Tears never stay in forever, eventually they will come out... whether they come gently or violently depends solely on how they had to force their way out.

* * *

A/N) I swear Sirius isn't insane. He isn't hearing voices, his memories are replaying in his mind. Just making sure everyone knows that.

10 points for whoever can guess which chapters the quotes are from, if they're quotes from previous chapters. No cheating... though if your willing to go through 70 chapters to find a few quotes then you probably deserve the the points anyway.

20 points for anyone who can figure out who Sirius dreamed about killing.

Winner will be announced after the next chapter is up... or as soon as I get enough people guessing. ^_^


	71. The Truth

Chapter 71  
The Truth

"Voldemort." Sirius said quietly sitting on his bed. James and Remus sat on either side of him and Peter sat on James' bed facing them. Sirius wouldn't look at anything but the floor, and he still had a dazed look in his eyes.

"What?" Remus asked before James could. He'd heard that name before, but he couldn't remember where.

"He's called Voldemort. The guy in the alley." Sirius added trying to look at James, but only making it as far as James' knees.

James' eyes widened. "Who is he? He and his people have been all over the news, but it never says anything but their pureblood extremists and murderers."

"I don't know, James, I don't think anyone really does. That's probably all they know also." Sirius rested his hands on his knees and shook his head.

"What did he want? What were you doing in the alley to begin with?" James asked, when he'd wanted Sirius to tell him so bad he hadn't considered that maybe he didn't really want to know the answer.

Sirius didn't respond for a while, considering what the best, and most truthful answer he could give was. He decided it was better to tell them nothing then it was to lie to them.

"I'd really rather not say... but I promise it had nothing to do with him." Sirius replied, quickly adding the last bit so they wouldn't be suspicious. He knew they trusted him, but no matter how much you trusted someone there could always be moments of doubt.

"We know, Sirius, we know." James said softly, rubbing his friend's back in a soothing way that his mother had done for him many times.

"He... He wanted me." Sirius placed his head in his hands and closed his eyes, not even wanting to know their reaction.

James, Remus, and Peter looked at each other, trying their hardest to process the situation and comfort their friend.

"You're thirteen." James managed first. Unable to understand why a criminal organization would want a thirteen year old as a member. "You're not even allowed to do magic outside of school."

"He said I had more important skills at the moment. Something about me being manipulative." Sirius whispered so low that James had to repeat it for Peter.

"I suppose I can see how that would be useful to him." Remus replied not denying the truth as most would. "But that doesn't mean anything really. It's not like you'd ever even consider it, I mean they're murderers, and like Lilly said yesterday, you're a bully, not a murderer."

Sirius considered this, normally he would be surprised that Remus was blunt enough to call him a bully, but now he really didn't care. "Ya, that's why I murdered Lily Evans in my dream the very night she stood up for me and woke up feeling happy."

"Sirius, that doesn't make you a murderer. You can't control what you dream about or what mood you wake up in. What matters is that this freaks you out. The very fact that you are so disturbed by this proves that you are no murderer. Besides, it's not like you've even considered it." James leaned back on one hand as though to emphasize his calm attitude.

Sirius closed his eyes and put his arms around himself. He replied quickly, as though the words were edged in broken glass.

"He promised to protect you, all of you, from his Death Eaters." He paused squeezing his eyes as though he never wanted to see again and bowing his head. "He, kinda, emphasized Remus."

Remus' face reddened. "Why? Because I'm different? What makes you think I need his protection?" He sounded almost angry.

Sirius finally managed to look someone in the eyes. Remus didn't turn away and didn't hide his frustration. "Why couldn't you go home for Christmas last year?" Sirius said calmly with almost no emotion behind it. Remus inhaled sharply and opened his mouth as though to speak but nothing seemed to be able to come out. After a time he gave up on replying and turned away.

"Because we didn't know where he lives so we couldn't go and beat the crap out of his neighbors for being gits." James replied in Remus' stead. Sirius turned to look at him instead.

"And you seriously think we can stop them? Bella is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Death Eaters."

"Sure we can, because Remus is our friend, our brother." James added, knowing exactly what being brothers meant to Sirius, Sirius would do almost anything for his brother.

"What if we can't?" Sirius' eyes begged James to give him an answer that he could hold onto.

"Sirius, are you doubting the Marauders' abillity to protect their own?" James answered with a smirk.

"James is right, Si." Remus agreed using Sirius' nickname for the first time. "We fooled the teachers into believing we were serial killers within two months of schooling, we've protected ourselves from numbers of Slytherins, from first year all the way to graduating seventh years, and that isn't even all we've done." Remus smiled and messed with Sirius' hair causing the other to jerk away with a small smile on his face.

"and besides what idiot would mess with someone who was friends with the heirs to the two most respected families in the whole wizarding world?" Peter added smiling in such a way that made his sincerity obvious.

Sirius looked away from them again before smiling. "I guess you're right."

"Of course we're right. And I'd better not find out about you considering anything like that ever again, because we'll always be there for each other. No matter what."


	72. Nostalgia

Chapter 72

Nostalgia

Divination the next Monday was extremely awkward for Sirius. He felt like he should tell Lily that a few nights ago he murdered her in cold blood in his dreams, if only as a warning for her to stay as far away from him as she could. Not that he'd ever have the courage to actually tell her.

It was a testament to how quick he got out of that class that he managed to make it to dinner before the rest of the Marauders who had a free period that period. When he explained why he was there early James laughed.

"I told you you shouldn't have taken Div." James said as he sat down across the table.

"It had nothing to do with Divination, it was Evans, how would you feel it you had to sit facing the person you'd just murdered in your dreams a few nights ago?" Sirius explained rolling his eyes.

Remus spoke up beside him. "Doesn't get much more awkward than that."

"Evans is in Divination with you?" James asked more interested than he really should have been.

"Um.. ya. So?" Sirius answered not understanding why it really mattered to him.

"You never told me that." James voice held undeserved accusations.

"Why would I tell you? Do you need to know every little detail of my life when you're not around now?" Sirius answered. James looked nervous for a moment before thinking of a good cover.

"Sure, gotta make sure you're not cheating on me or anything." He said with a smirk, effectively getting his best friends mind away from his potential crush.

Sirius rolled his eyes, while Remus looked at James like the latter was insane.

"James, mate, I thought you were okay with me seeing others." Sirius replied playing along. Remus groaned and facepalmed.

"Shut up, you guys, you know how gossip is around here."

James rested his chin on his hand and looked at Remus. "You ruined the joke, mate."

Remus shrugged,

They finished eating quickly, the subject changed from Sirius' need to get out more to quidditch practice yesterday and beyond, ending with Remus trying to get them to tell him what they've been doing on full moons instead of sleeping as they walked through the portrait of the fat lady and up the stairs to the dorm.

"As I've told you every time you asked, we study." James answered plopping down on his bed in front of an already open Runes book. He'd been studying from it just before dinner and hadn't bothered to put it away when they left.

"I'm not stupid, James." Remus replied leaning against James' bedpost "You don't stay up all night to study."

"Sirius felt lonely." James shrugged, turning the page in his book and glaring at the picture there. "What does this even mean?" he asked lifting the book so Remus could see it.

"I don't know, I haven't started on the runes homework yet." Remus answered "Fine If you won't tell me the truth I'll ask someone who will." He turned from James and walked over to Peter's bed.

James stared at the page for a little longer before hopping up and heading over to Sirius' bed. Sirius was still unloading things from his bag as James plopped down.

"Sirius you read runes right? What does this say?" He asked, handing Sirius the book. Sirius looked at for a while, his mouth moving as he tried to read them silently.

"It says 'do you own homework, you lazy git." Sirius said smiling and handing the book back.

James gave him a look that all but dripped with irritation. "Cute, real cute, Si." He moved back to his bed and plopped back down on it.

"Hey, it ain't my fault if the ancient peoples of the world disapproved of cheating." Sirius shrugged.

"You copy my homework all the time." James countered.

"Not extremely difficult homework that I need in order to actually learn the skill I joined the class for." Sirius replied with a smirk.

"Ya well I..."

"Hey guys, look." Remus said unintentionally interrupting James.

"What?" Sirius put down the water bottle he'd pulled out of his backpack and was drinking from. Remus came over and plopped down beside James holding what looked like a blank piece of parchment. Peter came over too, but he didn't sit. James pushed himself up off his stomach as Sirius sat at the end of the bed.

"Wow, Remus, you found some parchment. Lucky you." James said, his irritation with Sirius finding it's way into his voice.

"James, you're an idiot. It's the parchment we wrote our plans for our first Halloween prank on. Remember we used one of Sirius' spells to hide it." Remus rolled his eyes at the eldest teen, before continuing as though he'd said nothing.

"Oh! I remember now, that had to be the best prank we've done." James said.

"Eh... I liked the one with the exploding snap cards better. Watching Slugbreath run out of the room like a little girl was priceless." Sirius disagreed, as he spoke his face developed an almost sinister smirk.

James laughed at the memory. "True, True. But there's nothing better than making an entire school think we're going to kill them all."

"Do you guys remember what the password was?" Remus asked laughing a little.

"Umm I remember the one to hide it was Mischief Managed..." James answered... or attempted to anyway.

"I swear I'm up to no good." Peter said rather quietly from where he stood by the bedpost.

"Yeah, that's it. I swear I'm up to no good. Nice job, Peter." James said smiling at his less than confident friend. Remus tapped his wand on the paper and repeated the phrase. Words appeared where his wand had hit the paper and began to move to their proper place on the page, showing what had been written over two years ago.

"I forgot how cool that looks." Sirius said after climbing over James to get a better look.

"Guys... I'm amazing." James said completely ignoring Sirius's obvious attempt to further annoy him.

"You're also extremely humble" Sirius responded now half sitting on James in an attempt to not sit on Remus.

"You'll love me when I tell you what I just figured out." James smirked, he moved to the side of the bed a little more causing Sirius to fall on his back, earning an irritated "Hey!" from the latter. "Especially you, Sirius."

Sirius raised an eyebrow giving him a disbelieving, and slightly curious look on his face. But he didn't say anything and just let James continue.

"I know how to hide the Map."

* * *

A/N) Hi everyone! So in light of the fact that I'm almost actually halfway done with this story... (ya, I'm scared too) I was wondering what are you guys' favorite pranks so far, as well as any pranks you'd like to see. ^_^ Yayzz.

BTW: My favorite prank is the same as James'


	73. The New Definition of Solemn

Chapter 73

The New Definition of Solemn

"You know, I think my life would be a hundred times easier if I became nocturnal." Remus complained resting his head on the small table in the Gryffindor common room, Sirius rolled his eyes as he doodled on them map some more. They couldn't think of a good passphrase to open it, the old one sounded a bit childish to them.

"It might make going to classes a bit more difficult though." James replied, trying to not laugh at Remus' problems, but the difference between how people saw Remus and how he actually was always put a smile on his face. Sirius had asked Evans one time about what people saw them as, just as an off conversation they were having during divination (which James was finding himself very jealous about. Though he hid it better than Sirius had when it came to transfiguration.) First Evans told him very bluntly exactly what she thought of them as a whole, and then, after he explained himself, she told him very bluntly what she thought of each of them, after which he explained his question again, and only then she told them about how everyone seems completely in love with him and James...

And that Remus just looked like a bookworm tag-along along with Peter who just looked like a tag-along.

When Sirius told him James spent a full ten minutes laughing at the thought. Sirius had been pretty amused too. Remus had just rolled his eyes (before returning to practice an enlarging a chocolate frog for their Christmas prank.)

Bookworm is not a word James would use to describe Remus. Sure, Remus reads more than most people but usually it's because he's looking for something, rather than just because he feels like it or he's bored. Remus' free time was usually spent doing the same thing the rest of the Marauders were doing, usually planning pranks or playing games.

Remus hardly ever even got bored, which Sirius noticed very quickly. Remus said it was because he never really had anyone to play with when he was little so he found ways to entertain himself, now that he actually had friends he had more than enough to do and anytime he found himself with nothing to do he could always find one of his friends and do whatever they were doing with them. Between the four of them at least one of them were always doing something, all he had to do was join in.

Sirius had always had Regulus, so he really didn't ever have to entertain himself for very long, and James had all kinds of friends growing up, so despite being an only child as well, he didn't have to entertain himself either.

"It was your idea, James. You think of a phrase." Sirius complained, interrupting James' thought process.

James gave him an irritated glare. "It's your spell."

"Why don't we just keep the old one." Remus interrupted them before they started bickering. He was too tired to deal with them right now.

"It's boring. By the way Moony, James and I want to learn to cast a patronus charm... wanna help?" Sirius asked only half changing the subject because he knew they'd just carry on both conversations at the same time.

"It was better than the nothing we've got right now. And you two are nuts, you know that's like an auror level spell right?" Remus replied, not even looking up. Ridiculous comments were the norm for Sirius.

"Come on, it's worth a shot, besides working hard helps a person sleep at night, it might help you too." James added.

"Whatever." Remus mumbled, "But not right now."

"Well duh. We're trying to find a password for the map right now."

"Sirius, your voice irritates me sometimes."

"That would probably be because he uses it so often." James added, Sirius just smirked at him. "What if we just replace some of the words with something that sounds cooler. Like maybe I swear I'm despicable... or I promise to be a deviant... or I seriously swear I'm being bad... or something."

All three of them looked at him as though he was a moron.

"What?" James looked around, and at the sound of his confusion the laughing began, even Remus momentarily lost his fatigue and replaced it with the tears now running down his face as he attempted to control his breathing.

"You... are such... a loser!" Sirius choked out.

James just sighed and waited for them to either pass out from lack of oxygen, or finally calm down.

"I commit to being bad!" Remus yelled still making fun of James ridiculous names.

"Ya! Well, I'll sign a contract saying I'm atrocious!" Sirius replied, and it went back and forth between the two, their phrases getting sillier and sillier each time. Unfortunately for James, Sirius and Remus both had rather large vocabularies. Eventually James began to think it was going too far.

"Sirius, if you're going to make fun of me don't do it in French." He attempted to save a little bit of dignity. Remus clearly wasn't paying attention though...

"I solemnly swear I'm just a dirty rotten villain!" Remus' continued laughing his head falling to rest in his arms on the table.

"Solemnly swear?" James repeated, pretty sure that Remus was the exact opposite of solemn right now.

"He solemnly swears, James. Solemnly." Sirius said wiping tears from his eyes. "Don't you know, Remus is like the definition of solemn right now." He barely managed to finish his sentence before the giggles began again.

"If that's the case then so are you, mate." James said looking at his best friend, who was now clutching his chest as his lungs begged desperately for air. His comment didn't help any. "You know we should use that. I mean it completely describes all of us, perfectly." He said unable to resist letting out a chuckle as well. "We're like the most solemn people on the planet."

"Okay, but I am not calling myself a dirty rotten villain every time I use it." Sirius replied managing to finally get some oxygen into his system. Remus just giggled some more into his arms.

"How about I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." James suggested.

"I like it." Sirius said tapping the tip of his wand on the map.

"No!" Remus said real quickly causing Peter to jump.

"What? You don't like it? It was your idea." Sirius lifted his wand.

"If we're going to use solemnly swear we have to do it right."

"Do it right?"

"It has to sound like we solemnly swear... duh." Remus explained, still a little giggly.

"And what exactly does solemnly swearing sound like." James said extremely amused by the entire conversation.

"No contraction... It has to sound, like... professional." He said taking a moment to find the right word. "It is a map after all it needs to look professional."

"Umm, why? We're the only ones who are going to see it." Sirius didn't get it.

"No, Si, Moony's right. It needs to sound professional, and old-fashioned... that's what solemnness sounds like. Right?" James looked at Remus and the werewolf nodded.

"Okay, so what do you suggest?"

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." James said.

"No.. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Remus corrected emphasizing the word 'that'. "That's the proper way to say it."

"Oh, yeah, do that." James agreed looking back to Sirius who nodded and put his wand back to the paper. "Any objections, Peter?"

Peter just shook his head.

"We're going to leave the password to hide it the same right? Mischief Managed?" Sirius confirmed.

"Yeah, it sounds fine. It should be like our motto or something."

Sirius recited a spell and wrote the two phrases in the top left and right corners of the paper, the words faded first and then the map itself followed until Sirius was holding nothing but a blank piece of parchment. He poked the map with his wand again...

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He said, words and lines shot from where his wand had touched filling the map with everything they'd accomplished so far. He pointed at it again...

"Mischief Managed." This time the words and lines shot back to where he pointed his wand and faded.

"That is so cool!" James explained excited at their own talent. "Let me try." They passed it around, each of them summoning the map to the parchment and then making it retreat, before students began climbing into the common room just now getting back from the last Hogsmeade trip before Christmas. The Marauder's had come back early in an attempt to find the common room empty so they could work on their Christmas prank, as well as the map.

All the students came back with bags of Christmas presents for friends and families. Some even took some out to show their friends, or even beginning to wrap them. The common room became very noisy pretty quickly as the evening turned into night.

James didn't mind the noise, he actually enjoyed being around so many chattery and happy people... What he did mind though was seeing Sirius watch all of them. What he hated was the obvious attempt Sirius made to hide how he felt when he saw one sixth year girl telling her friends about the awesome Christmas present she got her brother this year... and how she just knew it would top the really cool present he'd got her last year.

And James knew exactly what he was going to do about it.

Remus gave him a curious look when James stood up.

"I'm going up to the dorm to do something, I'll be right back." He explained. Sirius turned to look at him, his poker face near perfection.

"Here, take this with you." Sirius said handing him the blank map. James just nodded and headed up the stairs. He put the map in its usual place in the desk, but made sure there was no other parchment in that drawer, it would be really bad if they mixed it up with like their unused parchment. He pulled out one of the spare bits of parchment before putting the rest in another drawer and took out a quill and began to write.

_**Dear **__**Mom**__**, **__**and **__**Dad**_

This was going to be the best Christmas ever.

* * *

A/N) And thus the Marauders map becomes a secret to everyone. (That's a reference btw.) This chapter was pretty silly. ^_^ I was in a good mood when writing it.

I always wondered how these three (er... four I guess if Peter must be counted) managed to come up with a password like 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good'... I find it hard to imagine James feeling solemn for any length of time. ^_^


	74. Secret Plots in Runes

A/N) They style of writing changes a little in this one, nothing bad.

* * *

Chapter 74

Secret Plots in Runes

_James__, __if __you __don__'__t __get __that __ridiculous __smile __off __your __face __I__'__m __going __to __think __you're __plotting __something__._

James read the note Remus had passed him a moment earlier, knowing full well the ridiculous smile was only getting bigger. He looked up at the Ancient Runes teacher to be sure she wasn't looking before writing:

_**What **__**makes **__**you **__**think **__**I**__**'**__**m **__**not**__**?**_

He returned the parchment to his best friend. In most classes they could get away with lightly talking, but Runes was not one of those classes.

Remus rubbed the bridge of his nose as he read the note, to most people he'd look stressed, but James could see the smile he was trying to hide.

_Because __if __you__'__re __plotting __something__ then __Sirius __would __be __too__. __And __Sirius __was __acting __perfectly __normal __this __morning__._

James choked back a laugh and wrote back, knowing full well Remus could see him smirking.

_**Unless **__**what **__**I**__**'**__**m **__**plotting **__**involves **__**Sirius**__**...**_

He watched the teacher again, putting a few class notes down in his notebook, and passed the note to Remus...

Remus wasn't able to hold in a laugh as easily as James had, causing the girl sitting beside him to glare at him. Thankfully the teacher didn't notice, or was too absorbed in what she was teaching that she didn't care. The note was back on James' desk earlier than he expected it to be.

_Good __luck__._

James smiled at that. He knew full well the words were laced with scepticism on Remus' part.

_**It**__**'**__**s **__**not **__**a **__**prank**__**. **__**I**__**'**__**m **__**not **__**stupid**__**, **__**I**__**'**__**d **__**never **__**be **__**able **__**to **__**get **__**him**__**.**_

The teacher called on Remus to answer a question, that he got wrong, and faced the students for a while before James could pass the note over. Remus spent a while looking through his book with an irritated expression on his face.

_Then __what __is __it__?... __Oh__, __and __what __did __I __do __wrong__?_

James wrote quickly and passed it back just as quickly.

_**I **__**think**__** (**__**emphasis **__**on **__**think**__**) **__**you **__**were **__**supposed **__**to **__**use **__**two**__** '**__**isa**__**' **__**rather **__**than **__**a**__** '**__**jera**__**'.**_

He looked through his book to double check before handing the note back. He'd gotten the question wrong too, but he'd gotten it wrong for a different reason.

_But __the __lines __are __curved__? __And __they__'__re __really __close __together__?_

_**I **__**think **__**that**__**'**__**s **__**just **__**bad **__**handwriting **__**more **__**than **__**anything **__**else**_

_Stupid __ancient __people __and __their __bad __handwriting__._

_**Rem**__**... **__**You **__**don**__**'**__**t **__**really **__**have **__**any **__**room **__**to **__**talk **__**there**__**.**_

_Yeah__... __well__... __blah__! __Just __blah__!_

James chuckled under his breath at Remus' response. James crumpled up the page and stuffed it into his bag before tearing off a new empty piece.

_**We **__**need **__**a **__**better **__**way **__**to **__**do **__**this**__**...**_

_True__, __it__'__s __really __irritating __to __have __to __wait __until __the __teacher __turns __her __back__... __let__'__s __mention __it __to __Sirius __after __class__, __see __if __he __has __any __ideas__. __He __usually __comes __up __with __some __pretty __cool __stuff__._

_**True**__**, **__**I **__**don**__**'**__**t **__**know **__**where **__**he **__**gets **__**all **__**these **__**ideas**__**, **__**but **__**they**__**'**__**re **__**great**__**... **__**I **__**wonder **__**if **__**he**__**'**__**s **__**awake **__**yet**__**.**_

_Probably__, __we__'__re __planning __on __painting __the __girls __restroom __during __break__, __remember__?... __Oh __and __you didn't__tell __me __what __you__'__re __plotting__..._

James gave another smirk and dug around in his bag pulling out a letter and handing it to Remus with the note.

_**Oh **__**yeah**__**, **__**I **__**forgot**__**. **__**Here **__**this **__**will **__**explain **__**everything**__**...**_

Remus looked at the letter curiously, but red the note first. When he turned back to the letter he read a little bit before checking to make sure the teacher wasn't looking before continuing. By the time he finished he was so excited he forgot to check on her before passing the note and letter back.

_Seriously__! __That __is __awesome__! __He__'__ll __be __ecstatic__!_

James was a little more cautious when putting the letter back in his bag and returning the note.

_**I **__**know**__**, **__**it**__**'**__**ll **__**be **__**great**__**. **__**I **__**can**__**'**__**t **__**wait**__**.**_

_I __wish __I __could __be __there__, __I__'__d __like __to __see __the __look __on __his __face__._

_**That **__**would **__**be **__**cool**__**, **__**to **__**have **__**all **__**of **__**us**__**...**_

_Yeah__, __but __not __this __time__. __Maybe __next __time__._

_**Of **__**course**__**, **__**I **__**understand**__**, **__**we**__**'**__**re **__**not **__**good **__**enough **__**for **__**you **__**to **__**hang**__**out **__**with**__**. **__**I **__**see**__**...**_

_... __James __I __live __with __you__, __I__'__m __passing __you __notes __during __class __as __we __speak__... __er__... __write__, __and __the __only __time __we__'__re __apart __for __more __than __an __hour __is __when__... __um__... __I __get __sick__. __Yeah__, __you__'__re __totally __not __good __enough __for __me __to __hang __out __with__._

_**Hehe**__**, **__**you**__**'**__**re **__**right**__**. **__**We **__**are hardly ever**__**apart... **__**Ohhh**__**! **__**Nope**__**, **__**you **__**have **__**double **__**Arithmancy **__**this **__**afternoon**__**, **__**that**__**'**__**s **__**two **__**hours**__**.**_

_Right __then__, __no __more __than __two __hours __at __a __time__. __Do __you __think __that __that__'__s __kind __of __sad__?_

_**I **__**think **__**it**__**'**__**s **__**awesome**__**!**_

_What__'__s __the __longest __you __and __Sirius __are __ever __apart__... __minus __holidays __of __course__._

_**Mondays **__**I **__**have **__**double **__**Runes **__**with **__**you**__**... **__**So **__**two **__**there **__**also**__**. **__**And **__**we**__**'**__**re **__**together **__**when **__**you**__**'**__**re**__** '**__**sick**__**' **__**too**__**.**_

_We __need __to __count __up __how __many __hours __we__'__re __not __with __one __of __the __group __per __week__... __it __would __be __interesting__._

_**And **__**may be **__**a **__**little **__**depressing**__**...**_

_Why__? __Because __we__'__re __so __dependent __on __each __other__? __I __don__'__t __particularly __mind __it__._

_**No**__**... **__**I **__**just **__**don**__**'**__**t **__**want **__**to **__**know **__**how **__**many **__**hours **__**I **__**have **__**to **__**spend **__**alone**__** :-(**_

_James__... __You __share __all __your __classes __with __at __least __one __of __us__. __I __don__'__t __think __your __number __would __be __higher __than __three__._

_**... **__**Okay**__**, **__**I **__**admit**__**... **__**that**__**'**__**s **__**a **__**little **__**sad**__**.**_

_Just __a __little__._

The note went back and forth as the conversation changed from their social lives to their favorite classes before the bell finally rang.

"Sirius!" James called as Sirius and Peter walked up to them, meeting them as they got out of class and heading up to the girls bathroom. "Guess what I learned today!"

"Hopefully how to read runes." Sirius said playing with his hair, an action that meant he woke up late and didn't get to spend as much time on it as he wanted to.

"Of course not." Remus said rolling his eyes with a half smirk on his face.

"The longest we're apart on an average week is two hours." James said peeking into the girls bathroom to make sure there was no one in it

"Well, James, it's good to know you had such a productive class." Sirius looked at Remus who just shook his head and laughed as they followed their friend into the bathroom.

* * *

A/N) Nope... I couldn't do a marauder's story without doing a note passing scene. ^_^ I enjoy them a lot. It probably won't be the last one either.

The inspiration for this chapter comes from the fact that I think I focus waaaay too much on Sirius. I need a few chapters where he's not, or hardly even, in the chapter. Naturally he still managed to make it in... (grrr Sirius you screentime hog! **Sirius:** Mwahahahahaha) but I did better. Sirius had been a little too responsible in the last few chapters... I think I need to make him hex someone soon. Hmmm Snape sounds good.

Stupid upload doc thing _ It took out all the spaces in all the bold and or italic lines... I had to go back in and put them all back... If anyone knows how to keep it from doing that I would love to know.


	75. I'll Be Home For Christmas

Chapter 75

I'll Be Home For Christmas

"The Patronus Charm is a charm that evokes a partially-tangible, positive energy force known as a Patronus..." Remus read from where he lay on Sirius' bed.

"Well, thank you captain obvious." James criticised, rolling his eyes at Sirius who simply shrugged.

"Patronuses are also called spirit guardians..." Remus continued reading, ignoring James' comment.

"Spirit guardians? All they do is drive away dementors? how are they a guardian?" Sirius asked, he was laying on his bed as well, except while Remus was laying on his stomach near the top of the bed, he was laying on his back on the bottom, with his legs resting on the pillar that held up the curtain.

"I think they are supposed to resemble our spirit guardians." James said. "Like your spirit guardian is obviously a dog, therefore your patronus is going to resemble a dog."

"My patronus will not be a dog!" Sirius exclaimed, giving James a glare.

"It'll be a dog." Remus agreed. Sirius just gave a loud groan and facepalmed.

"Just skip to the part that tells us how to do it." James told Remus, he was bored already.

"Why do you guys even want to learn this... the chances you'll ever actually see a dementor is like little to none... unless you plan on going to Azkaban... You're not planning on going to Azkaban are you?" Remus asked looking at them suspiciously. James rolled his eyes again.

"Seriously Remus? Who plans on going to Azkaban?"

"Umm... Insane people... and the more time I spend with you guys the more I believe you're insane."

"I've never seen a patronus before. I want to see it." Sirius said, giving the first excuse that came to his head... it sounded pathetic, especially to him.

"Then ask McGonagall, I'm sure she can do one." Remus shrugged, but looked in the book for the explanation anyway, knowing full well that they weren't going to do it the easy way.

"That's no fun." James replied.

"The incantation is 'Expecto Patronum'..." Remus read pausing to read the rest in his head before reading it out loud.

"Expecto Patronum!" James said pointing his wand at nothing. There wasn't even a flicker of sparks.

"Wow, impressive." Sirius said sarcastically.

"Shut it, Si."

"You have to think of something happy. Like a memory or something." Remus explained, shortening a page and a half of text into two sentences, the book was far more thorough than necessary.

"Something happy... hmm" James began to think. "In two weeks we'll be out for Christmas Break!" He said before pointing his wand again "Expecto Patronum!"...

Still nothing.

"This spell sucks." James concluded.

"James, I told you it's an auror level spell, you're not going to get it in two tries." Remus told him. "I think you need something happier. You try, Sirius."

"Frankly I don't really think I should bother right now." Sirius replied.

"Why?" Peter asked, glad he wasn't the only one who didn't think he could do it. Though Sirius didn't normally have such doubts.

"Oh, no reason. James just reminded me that you lot are leaving me all alone for nearly a month. That's all." Sirius gave a loud sigh, as though it was the end of the world. Remus looked at James.

You haven't told him yet? Remus mouthed. James gave him a 'woops' look and rubbed the back of his head, causing Remus to roll his eyes.

"Oi, Sirius, that reminds me. I got a letter from my parents a few days..." Remus quickly interrupted correcting him "Fine, weeks ago."

"Wonderful, it's great to know my impending lack of social communication reminds you to converse with your own parents. I'm glad I've saved your family ties." Sirius said sarcastically.

"Impending lack of social communication..." Remus repeated, a mixture of disbelief and humor in his voice, not sure whether to be amused at Sirius' dramatics or to be impressed that his friend actually managed to use that phrase in an actual conversation and still sound like he knew what he was talking about.

"Sirius, you have the mirror... You can talk to me any time you want to, I always have it on me when I'm at home." James reminded, it seemed as though Sirius was in a dramatic mood today.

"Social deprivation!" Sirius exclaimed, completely ignoring them both.

"You're just trying to make us feel bad... aren't you?" Remus moved up so that he was hovering over Sirius' face, going out of his way to make sure Sirius saw the lack of pity or concern on his face.

"Yes. But you clearly don't care, so..."

"Just read the stupid letter, Sirius, before I change my mind and decide I don't want to spend any more time with you then absolutely necessary." James tossed an envelope in Sirius' direction, Remus caught it due to still taking up most of Sirius' field of vision, but he handed it to Sirius and moved back to the book closing it and putting it with the other books he needed to return to the library before vacation.

"What's it say?" Peter asked, as Sirius began to read. Halfway though the letter the latter sat up, now sitting cross-legged on the bed with his eyes wide. He began mouthing the words as he read and didn't look up till he was finished.

"You're serious?" Sirius asked as though he didn't quite know what to say.

"No, I just decided to think up the most cruel joke I could pull off and got my parents to help me with it." James' sarcasm made Remus laugh.

"But.. I mean, that's kinda... Isn't stuff like that kinda a family only thing?" Sirius looked a little nervous.

"Not if we don't want it to be. Besides, didn't we already go through this, you guys are family."

"But.. your parents..."

"Have been bugging me to ask some of my school friends over for like... ever." James shrugged, he'd expected Sirius to have some doubts.

"What's it say?" Peter repeated, though he had most of it pieced together by now.

"My parents want Sirius to come over for Christmas break." James explained, though still looking at Sirius, who was rereading the letter, as though looking for some hint that it wasn't true.

It really wasn't surprising. Sirius, understandably, had a few trust issues. And the Potters and Blacks usually didn't mingle well together. Like opposite sides of the same coin really. Well no... More like opposite sides of two completely different coins that were not similar in any way, shape, or form, but still...

James gave a small sigh and sat next to Sirius on the bed. "Look, if you're worried they don't like you, don't be. They both really like you, or as much as they can for how little they've met you. I didn't bully them into it or anything."

"But... I..." Sirius began, he hadn't even considered that one of them might actually want to invite him, he'd only even celebrated the holiday two times, he didn't know anything about how family celebrated Christmas. He'd only get in the way.

"But you, nothing. You're coming home with me, whether you like it or not." James said with a smirk.

Sirius said nothing for a good long while, simply reading and rereading the letter again.

"This is a first," Remus said to James after a little while. "Is Sirius Black at a loss for words?" He asked smiling. "The guy who just used the phrase 'impending lack of social communication' in conversation without sounding like a total nerd is speechless?"

"Shut up, Moony." Sirius said, though not with any force in his voice. Remus just laughed.

"I gotta warn you though my parents are really old, they can't handle stuff like exploding toilet seats or pretty much anything even remotely scary. Oh, and you can't do magic, they actual..." He was interrupted by surprise as the large form of Sirius Black latched on to him.

Sirius didn't say thank you, he didn't have to. The hug and unshed tears said more than a simple thank you ever could.

* * *

A/N) Hi. ^_^ I'm back. I'm so excited. Sirius gets too be with friends for Christmas. Yay! Merry not-Christmas Sirius. ^_^


	76. Is This Home?

Chapter 76

Welcome Home

The Hogwarts express had never been intimidating to Sirius. Never. Even as a kid when he'd come to see his cousins off, the train had looked awesome to him. He'd never understood why muggleborns, and admittedly Remus, had thought the train was scary their first year. It was just a train after all.

He knew now, looking at the train, that it was the idea of going somewhere you'd never been before that was terrifying, rather than the actual train itself.

James rolled his eyes at his friend's hesitation. Sirius had to be the most dramatic person he'd ever met. At least the most dramatic boy anyway.

"Are you coming, or not?" James asked standing just outside the train's entrance. Sirius quickly entered the train following Remus and Peter to their normal compartment, James was close behind.

Sirius' nervousness faded relatively quickly as the train drew farther and farther away from Hogwarts. James' reminders that his parents had been glad to invite Sirius over helped quite a lot.

And before they knew it Kings Cross Station was in view and they were grabbing the bags they'd brought with them and heading off the train.

"Mum! Over here!" James called waving over the top of a few first year girl's heads, who giggled giving Remus the impression that at least one of them had a crush on James. Which wasn't all that uncommon among the first years.

Elizabeth Potter waved back as they all tried to make their way to each other. When they finally managed; hugs were shared between parents and their children, with Sirius simply watching and giving a polite, if not a little nervous, hello to anyone who greeted him.

"Oh, it'll be wonderful having one of James' friends over for Christmas. Just wonderful." Elizabeth rambled on as they headed out. James discreetly rolled his eyes at Sirius who responded by laughing just as stealthily. They reached the outside of the Station but didn't part ways immediately, Elizabeth and Hope Lupin had gotten into a conversation that absolutely had to be finished.

In other words, they were swapping recipes.

"Girls are weird." Sirius concluded to James as they waited, causing the others to laugh.

"Still haven't gotten over the cootie phase yet, Sirius?" Lyall Lupin asked, leaning against a car and subconsciously playing with the reading glasses in his trouser pocket.

"What are cooties?" Sirius responded simply, not quite understanding why his response made Lyall laugh even more.

"Never mind, kid. You'll grow out of it eventually." He said with a smile directed at Charles Potter.

"Not looking forward to that." Charles smirked. "He'll be as popular with the ladies as I was. I can just tell."

"Dad! Shush!" James whined clearly embarrassed by his father's words. Charles just laughed but did as his son said.

Mr. Lupin looked at him with surprise, Remus would have received a smack in the mouth if the boy'd talked to him like that.

Nothing good ever came from spoiling a child like that.

"Girls, are you about finished? I'd like to get home before Christmas please." Mr. Potter said with a teasing impatience.

"You will wait until we are good and ready, Charles." Elisabeth replied sternly. "Honestly, these men."

Hope laughed. "They won't be complaining when they're eating our recipies."

"Let it be known that I didn't say a word." Lyall added, mostly to his wife. He walked over and put his arm around her. She rolled her eyes, but made no attempt to remove his arm.

James and Sirius were grossed out, but Remus, despite the fact that they were his parents, just seemed happy.

It was the first time his mother had let his father hold her like that since she found out he was a wizard. Things were finally starting to be normal at his house.

Well other than the magic.

When Remus got home things looked different. The ivy was finally starting to grow up the wall, something Hope had tried to do since Lyall had built the house, something that he was pretty sure was more due to magic rather than his mom's green thumb.

The inside showed signs that she'd finally decided he's been punished enough as well. The house looked exactly as she had dreamed it would (with a few magical flairs thrown in.) He knew, because she'd drawn pictures to show Lyall her plan for the house. He had a little input on the house, but he mostly just went with whatever she wanted. She was a lot better at decorating than he was, evidence being his study was always a mess, while the rest of the house looked lived in at worst.

Remus always admired how she was able to make everything look perfect, despite their lack of income.

Lyall gave him a wink that told him everything he needed to know. He laughed.

It was all Lyall's biggest 'I love you' present ever. (And probably what got her to finally let him off the hook.)

"Go ahead and put your things away while I start dinner." Hope told Remus distracting him from his private conversation with his dad.

"Yes, mum." Remus nodded and went up to his room to unpack the things he'd brought. He didn't need to ask to know what she was making. She always made his favorite food on his first day back.

His room was mostly the same, just a little cleaner than he'd left it. It was a rather plain room, not very big, but it was his. He didn't have many decorations, it wasn't like he had any desire to put a poster of a musician or sports star on any of his walls. He wasn't really into that kind of stuff. He did have quite a lot of books, as that was how he kept himself busy when he didn't have friends.

He didn't really need so many anymore. He should probably give some away.

Remus was still smiling at the thought when his mother called him down for dinner.

* * *

James was surprised by Sirius' reaction to his house. Very surprised really. He was pretty sure the Blacks had just as much money as the Potters.

So why exactly was Sirius staring at the Potter mansion like it was the biggest house he'd ever seen?

The home itself was only three stories high. Not including the two underground floors that the surrounding muggles didn't even know existed. It was wide though, about twice as wide as any other home in the town.

It wasn't wide for the sake of many rooms, though there were more above ground rooms than most houses, it was wide because the rooms themselves were large.

The living room was in itself two stories high. With gorgeous red wooden floors that would almost be a sin to cover up with carpet, and furniture made from a dark brown wood that matched the floors, but wasn't the same color.

The furniture itself didn't look comfortable, but sitting on it proved just the opposite.

And there was a chandelier in nearly every room, even the bedrooms. Though the bathrooms were exempt from this, even they looked fancy. It was like something you'd read about in a medieval fairy tale.

To James it was worth nothing more than a shrug.

Sirius was pretty sure he could hate James for that, if they weren't best friends already.

It wasn't really the size Sirius envied, nor the sheer pricelessness of the place. He was used to size from being at Hogwarts, and literally everything in the Noble House of Black was of expensive taste.

It was how roomy, homely, and warm the place was that made Sirius envious. The House of Black was tight, closed, and cold. The rooms seemed to be small just for the sake of making one feel claustrophobic.

Sirius shook his head at his spoiled best friend and let James lead him to the bedrooms. James took him to his own room then led him to a few of the guest rooms nearby, letting Sirius choose what room he wanted.

Sirius didn't need to answer. James knew him far too well, they simply looked at each other for a moment and James laughed. Just as Sirius exited the room to put his stuff in the room he chose he heard James ask his father...

"Can we move one of these beds into my room?"

* * *

A/N) First off, thanks to japanicana83 for beta reading this for me. If this chapter is better quality than the previous you have him to thank.

Second about the actual chapter, I love Remus' family and home! I pretty much gave him my dream life, minus the lack of friends as a kid, to make up for him being a werewolf. I love cottage homes surrounded by forest and plant life. I just love it. His parents rock too.

I'm thinking about putting a top ten pet peeves in Marauder fics down here. Or like tips on writing them. There are quite a few things things that just drive me nuts! when reading a Marauder fic. Would that irritate you guys? Or would you like to see what I'm not going to do with this story? ^_^


	77. Back to Plan A

Chapter 77

Back to Plan A

"Mate, I hate to say it, but I really don't see this happening." James said looking through a book he'd brought up from their underground library.

"James, if we can't even do an auror level Patronus charm, how in the world are we going to go beyond that though animagi training?" Sirius argued. They'd been sitting in James' room for pretty much the entire day holed up in James' room practicing the Patronus charm, with little to no success.

Admitting defeat was not something they liked to do

"Well, animagi training is done through multiple steps. So it stands to reason that it would be simpler." James countered. Giving a shrug and placing the book down, picking up one of their animagi books instead.

"Not if each step is just that hard."

"Well the potion wasn't really out of our league, just impossible to do at school." James reviewed the page describing the potion.

"But, we're not in school..."

James looked up and the two of them were quiet for a moment just looking at each other.

It was too easy.

James quite literally ran downstairs to grab a random cauldron and drag it outside as Sirius gathered all the ingredients he'd bought (or stolen) when they were still under the impression that they had to do the potion.

Only to be stopped by James' mother once they reached the kitchen, which contained the only exit to the backyard.

"What on earth are you doing?" She asked, her tone more curious than rebuking. This startled Sirius, who was used to being yelled at for the slightest little thing.

"Homework, we have to make a potion-like thing, but it has to be outside." James lied, Sirius thought it sounded obviously fake, but Mrs. Potter seemed convinced. "It's not going to be an actual potion obviously, because that would require magic."

Charles looked up from his Daily Prophet, "Seems like a waste of ingredients to me."

"I'm sure the teachers know what they're doing, Charles." Elizabeth rolled her eyes at him with humor written on her face.

"Can we go?" James interrupted pointing to the door. A little annoyed by their antics.

"Of course, sweetheart, but just set them out and come back, dinner is nearly done. You can start it afterwards alright?"

James just nodded and they headed out, he led Sirius to an old tree house he and his dad had built when he was quite a bit younger, it was a little uncomfortable since they couldn't stand up straight in it, but it was otherwise perfect.

Sirius raised this point to James, but the latter simply shrugged it off, telling him that he probably wouldn't get more than a minor lecture. They never gave him any more than a minor lecture.

Sirius didn't say much more that night, even after dinner when they began the hardest potion they had ever so much as attempted to make. Hoping, desperately hoping, that they didn't end up killing themselves with it.

* * *

James watched the purple liquid in the cauldron bubble. There wasn't anymore they could do for it right now. Even so much as touching the cauldron could ruin the mixture.

Sirius had left quite a while ago, returning to the house muttering something about going for a walk. James wasn't worried, there was nothing in this town that could hold a candle against Sirius, and Sirius was too smart to get lost in a town this small.

Even so he'd was only willing to give Sirius one hour of alone time before James came looking for him. Not because he thought something would happen, but because Sirius needed someone to talk to. Even if the stubborn, brat didn't agree.

He stood and climbed down the shed before peeking his head in the kitchen to tell his mum he was going out.

James gave a small sigh when he stepped out onto the road in front of his house. Now he needed to decide where to look first, it was the most difficult part of any search in his opinion. He hated looking for things.

It took him a full twenty minutes, despite knowing the town like the back of his hand and knowing Sirius wouldn't be in anyone's home.

Then again, who in their right mind would look for Sirius Black inside a small church not a full mile from the Potter mansion.

Certainly not James. But there he was standing in between the front two pews looking at a wooden cross decorating the wall behind the pulpit. James didn't have to look to read the carving into the wood.

_"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."_

_John 3:16-18_

James had always been fascinated by it. The letters were small, but (partially due to the small size of the church) could be read from almost anywhere in the room.

"Si." James said quietly to avoid startling his friend. Sirius turned around for a moment before looking back to the front of the room.

"Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?" Sirius practically mumbled.

James gave a slight hum as he thought about it. "Yeah, a little I guess. Though I'm inclined to believe it, or at least I want to."

"Really?" Sirius gave him a curious look.

"Sure, the guy in charge of this place, the pastor I guess, well he makes a kinda hard to doubt what he tells you. And he's happy enough that you gotta kinda want whatever it is that made him that way. Even if it does seem too good to be real."

"You know him?"

"Sure, everyone in town does. He pretty much introduced himself to everyone in town about a week before he moved here a little over three years ago. Came and knocked on our door and everything. Mum was pretty surprised, the previous couple pastors had a tendency to ignore us, you know, people in town don't know we're magic, but they can't help but think something's creepy about that huge house down the street that gets a ton of strange visitors wearing strange clothing. But this guy just shrugged it off and came over to invite us to church personally. Dad was so impressed that we actually went." James explained with a slight shrug sitting down in the very front pew.

"You go regularly?" Sirius asked, he was had thought that James would have mentioned it before now.

"No, mostly just on holidays and special occasions, but it's more than we went before he visited."

"Oh, okay." Sirius nodded. He remained quiet for a moment. "Mother would kill me if she found out I was here."

"Is that why you came?"

"No." Sirius shook his head, thinking for a moment about the answer trying to figure out exactly why he came. "I don't know, I saw it and decided I wanted to check it out."

"You didn't leave the house to explore the town, Si." James gave his friend a serious look.

Sirius sighed, "I don't know, James, I just.. I had to get out of there for a while."

"Is there something wrong with my place? Would you have preferred to stay at hogwarts?" James leaned against the armrest of the pew trying to sound indifferent.

"No, absolutely not." Sirius protested quickly, but not too quickly. "I'm alright, I'm really enjoying myself, really I am. It's just..." Sirius trailed off a little before finding the words to say, the same words he'd used previously to describe something far different though strangely similar, . "It just seems too good to be true."

James gave him another look, this one saying James thought he'd gone loopy. "What?"

"I guess it's a little too much to handle at one time. Seeing all the things I'd missed out on my entire life and having them all shoved in my face at one time. It's... hard. I still expect to get yelled at for even the slightest misbehavior, or just whenever something happens mother doesn't approve of, sometimes even including the simple fact that I exist. I just need some time to process that this is real. I'm not really used to having adults treat me like I actually matter to them outside of school, and even that is limited."

Sirius shook his head, as though all his thoughts could line themselves up just by doing so.

"I suppose that's understandable." James nodded, relieved that it wasn't a problem with his family or his house.

"I'm sorry." Sirius knew James wouldn't accept it, but he felt like he needed to apologize anyway.

"Don't be, it isn't your fault. It's hers." James replied predictably, practically growling out an accusation. Sirius was a little surprised, he hadn't realized just how much James hated his mother. Sirius' gaze dropped.

"I know that in my head, but..." His voice trailed off.

"Please don't say 'my heart doesn't agree' that is the single most cheesy line ever. Or, well, pretty close at least." James teased, a small smirk appearing on his face.

Sirius laughed. "Frankly, I was going to to just let my voice trail off dramatically. But if you insist."

"No!" James cried, before attempting to put Sirius in a headlock, or at least that's what it looked like he was doing, he was failing miserably at it though.

They boys' laughter echoed throughout the room until the two needed to calm down to catch their breath.

"Let's go home, Si." James said placing his arm around his best friend's shoulders.

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, let's"

* * *

A/N) I can finally add more more than 2 characters in the description! I'm so happy. ^_^

I sorta modeled this pastor on what I believe the ideal pastor should be, and gave him a personality to complement it, and you will see him, eventually. Because I've kinda fallen in love with that OC lol. The idea of Sirius with a church nearby leads for a lot of potential character development. But this story won't get real religious, it is after all a fantasy with it's own version of the afterlife. The two don't combine well, and I'm not going to try.

Thanks for all the reviews. At the moment I have the next two chapters completed, they are still being beta'd though. Sorry for the hiatus, I recently learned of the greatness that is Persona 4.

The reviewers who mentioned it seemed to like the top ten pet peeves list. (lolz peeves) So I guess I'll do it. Starting next chapter ending author's notes will contain my top ten Marauder fanfic pet peeves. Please don't be offended if I mention something you like. I'll try not to rudely bash it, and this is just my opinion.


	78. Presents for Moony

Chapter 78

Presents for Moony

_**Peter, **_

_**The potion is nearly done and it looks exactly like it's supposed to, which in itself makes me nervous. Is it really possible that we actually managed to do this correctly on the first try? I mean sure between the two of us we've got more skill than our entire class combined, but... Is it really possible? Sirius is pretty confident, he read the description of how it's supposed to turn out three times, and apparently that was as much confirmation as he needed. I wish I could be that sure. **_

_**Well anyway, you need to see about coming over Thursday. I know it's Christmas Eve, but maybe you could tell them I'm planning a Christmas party or that we need to do some last minute shopping or something. It absolutely has to be done on Thursday. The book reminds us that the leeway of time is only like half an hour at least fifteen times. **_

_**Okay, well, owl me about when you're coming over, make it before noon... **_

_**We are complete idiots for even trying this, Remus is going to kill us.**_

_**Kinda exciting, huh?**_

_**James **_

James attached the letter to their family owl and sent him off. Ignoring Sirius' complaints from behind him, at first it was a difficult task, as most of it was just him cursing loudly at the box on the floor in front of him. Now though, Sirius had exhausted his english vocabulary of rude words and had moved to some celtic language James didn't even recognize (sometimes he wondered if Sirius even knew how to speak in the languages he used rather than just knowing all their curse words.)

"Sirius, just go ask Mum to do it for you." He suggested for the third time.

"I can do it myself." Sirius glared at the bright red wrapping paper he was attempting to place neatly around Remus' present (which by the way was not a book, and not made of chocolate, scary as the thought may be.) He'd managed to figure out the spell McGonagall had used last year, but such a perfectly wrapped present would be a dead give-away to James' parents that they were secretly doing magic, and that could cause some problems with their attempts to finish up a very illegal, and thus vary secret, potion later in the week.

"Si, I can't even do it myself. And I've celebrated Christmas for thirteen years now."

"I can do it myself." Sirius repeated returning to the (in James' opinion) ridiculously bright wrapping paper. James merely shook his head and proceeded to the kitchen to get a snack, chuckling when he heard Sirius insult the paper's mother just as he left the room.

His dad apparently had the same idea he did, as they were plowing through the kitchen, talking about Quidditch, of course, they heard Sirius yell something that vaguely sounded Russian from upstairs.

"I'll bet he got another papercut." James laughed highly amused.

"What in merlin's name is he doing?" Charles asked still looking in the general direction of James' room. Why on earth the two had decided to share a room was lost on him, there were plenty of perfectly good guest rooms.

"He is attempting to wrap a present." James answered as though this was a perfectly normal thing to hear someone scream about.

"Why doesn't he..."

"He's extremely stubborn." James interrupted, knowing full well what his father was going to ask.

"I see."

The conversation returned to Quidditch.

"You guys I really don't think this is a good idea." Peter squeaked nervously looking at the cauldron of thick black goop.

"If you're so nervous you can do it after one of us." James said not really paying attention as he stirred said thick black goop.

"O-Okay," Peter stuttered, scared out of his wits.

"Okay, I think it's ready. I can't stir it any more, it's too thick." James turned to Sirius who was sitting on the had three different books opened around him.

"Is it thick enough to be solid?" Sirius asked crawling over on all fours because the roof was too low and peeking in the cauldron.

"Can I touch it to check?"

"Yeah."

James gently reached into it and grabbed a handful of the goo, though it felt a lot less gooy than it looked.

"I think this counts as a solid, right?"

"I think so, it doesn't say it has to be completely solid, just that you stir it till you can't any more." Sirius poked the stuff that, for a lack of a better word, they were still going to call goo, despite being partially solid.

"Now what?"

"Split it into three even parts."

"The book doesn't say that," James argued.

"But the book isn't expecting three people to do it at once."

"That's true, will it work with less?"

"Of course it will, it's the same potion no matter how much of it you have."

James simply nodded, and did as he was told. Placing a pile of the goo in front of each of them.

"Next."

"It says to flatten it, cover you hand with a generous amount of you own blood and place your hand so it creates a handprint on the goo."

They ignored Peter when he squeaked loudly at the thought of using his blood.

"I'll go last. I'm the best at healing spells." James nodded, gut clenching a little at the idea, but he was otherwise fine.

"Guess that means I'm first." Sirius pulled out one of the three knives he swiped from the kitchen.

"Do you want me to do it?" James asked looking at the knife nervously.

"Nah, I'm fine." Sirius pulled up a coat sleeve and cut a small but deep line in the soft part of his arm. It bled easily and he was able to get plenty of it on his hand.

As he placed his bloody hand into the pile of black goo James went ahead and healed his arm, leaving a scar that would probably go away in less than a week.

Sirius didn't wait very long before removing his hand, only to see his fingerprints glowing the color of his blood against the black background, it was a surprisingly eerie sight. As they watched the black potion began to bubble taking a new, much larger and more solid shape, it's color roughly stayed the same with some minor changes, changes that would soon become eyes.

The eyes were the only thing on the dog that wasn't black, and they were merely a gray. But that wasn't even the most notable thing about the dog, the most notable thing was it's size.

It was huge for a dog. Probably closer to wolf size than dog size, though it's paws weren't big enough for it to be a wolf. At the very least it would go up to James' waist if he were standing, and James was the tallest of the three.

"Told you it would be a dog." James said after the initial shock wore off. Sirius glared at him, promising to get him back later. Though he had to admit he wasn't disappointed, sure the dog jokes would be endless, but it was awesome!

It didn't last long, eventually the dog seemed to simply melt away, leaving not even the black goo behind.

"That was awesome." Sirius said with a smile, thinking that one day he might, no he will be able to turn into something that cool.

"Peter's turn." James said excitedly.

"What?!" Peter jumped, hitting his head on the ceiling and staring at James. "I-I don't think I can.."

"Calm down, just close your eyes and I'll do it for you." Sirius rolled his own eyes and picked up a different knife.

Peter squeaked loudly, practically hiding behind James.

"Er, Si, maybe I should do it." James said gently taking the knife from Sirius who looked as though he really wanted to hit Peter for a moment, realized that that was probably exactly why Peter didn't want him doing it, and shrugged it off.

"Whatever."

James copied Sirius' cut on Peter's arm, though he was pretty sure it wasn't as deep because it didn't bleed nearly as much, but Peter managed to get enough on his hand, barely anyway.

Peter's fingerprints glowed as well, though when the goo began to bubble it didn't change nearly as much and was finished much quicker.

James poorly hid his laugher, Sirius didn't even try.

A gray rat sat there in front of Peter. It was pretty large, as far as rats go, but comparing to it's predecessor, it just looked sad.

They could practically see the rain cloud over Peter's head.

"Don't worry Peter. Not everyone can have large animagi. Besides, it'll be like a million times easier to sneak into things if we can just send you in first. No more worrying about being caught sneaking into the girls loo."

Sirius' laughter was not helping Peter feel better. Though it did help him feel better when the rat melted away.

"Hey, if it makes you feel better maybe James' will be smaller. Like a bug, because of how annoying he is."

"At least I won't be a mutt." James countered, teasing. James was the only person in the world that could call Sirius a mutt. If anyone else tried they'd get a face full of whatever spell was the first to pop into Sirius' head, and it was never pleasant. Even Remus would probably get the silence treatment for a day. Though he'd never tested it out to be sure, neither had Peter, but he was pretty sure he was in the punch category.

"Better than a bug." Sirius defended.

"Please, like I'd be a bug."

"Only one way to find out." Sirius smirked holding the last knife out to his friend.

James looked at the knife for a moment before giving up any pretence and holding out his arm. He wouldn't close his eyes and turn away like Peter had, but he could not cut himself. Sirius laughed at him, but it wasn't a mean laugh, and he was surprisingly gentle with the knife, though he went just as deep as he had with himself, but James expected that. He quickly covered his hand with the blood and reached the arm back so Sirius could heal him. Sirius wasn't as good at healing spells, so James' scar might last a little longer than two weeks, but it was winter so he would be wearing long sleeves anyway.

The fingerprints in James' goo was just as bright and just as red as the others but when it began to bubble the color and size changed drastically.

The stag's antlers put a hole in the ceiling, and they were pretty sure it could be heard from inside the house.

"Oops." James deadpaned,

"Well, that's no bug... but mine is still cooler." Sirius admitted. Though he was quite impressed.

"Um, no, no it isn't.

It was the first time they got into a lengthy argument over who's animagus was cooler, but it most certainly wouldn't be the last.


	79. Christmas with the Potters

Chapter 79

Christmas with the Potters

Sirius woke the next morning by way of a surprisingly stiff pillow thrown with a chaser's arm (in other word's very fast) right into his face.

Saying it was not a pleasant way to wake would be a gross understatement.

Naturally the pillow was returned to the owner in a similar fashion.

After a miniature pillow fight James and Sirius began their descent downstairs, James hurrying Sirius because the latter always felt the need to stare at the Christmas decorations every time he passed them. Eventually, they made it the family room and James immanently ran off to wake his parents. Sirius opted out of that particular family tradition, not wanting to think about what his parents would do to him if he even tried something like that, holiday or not.

James returned smiling from ear to ear with two very tired looking adults in tow. Charles jokingly suggested they eat breakfast first, but from James' reaction it was easily assumed that the joke had gone straight over his head causing a small laughing fit from Sirius. The family sat around the tree, with the adults sitting on the couch and James pulling Sirius to sit on the floor with him, as well as recruiting the younger boy into helping him pass out the presents, since James' parents claimed they were too old to be moving around that much. James simply rolled his eyes at that.

Sirius was mostly quiet, not to say he was disconnected with what was going on around him. He laughed at jokes that were funny, he and Charles ganged up on James, teasing him until he tackled Sirius attempting to try out his new broom polish on Sirius' face.

He just didn't say anything without being directly spoken to, mostly added to what was already being said. He couldn't find anything to say. He could count the number of times he'd found himself speechless on one hand, and more than half of those times had occurred within the two weeks.

The scene he found himself in was completely foreign to him. He watched the family having fun, and found himself, not saddened by what he'd missed out on his whole life as he'd expected, but he found himself having fun right along with them. He was entirely happy.

For a while he'd been wondering if teachers were the only adults who really cared about anyone under seventeen, wondering if he had to become a teacher when he got older just to keep from becoming cold and bitter. He was really glad that wasn't so, because Sirius Black would make a horrible teacher.

After they finished opening all the presents Sirius and James played some wizard's chess while Elizabeth and Charles made breakfast. Remus had sent Sirius a set of new chess pieces and Sirius taught James the secret behind breaking in the new pieces and getting them to trust him (though it would never work with James because he never played to win and only bothered to play because he enjoyed watching them smash each other.) The secret was pretty obvious, but wasn't something James would have ever come up with on his own. It simply involved mixing the old and the new pieces together. Half of Sirius' side of the board were new and the other half were the old ones he'd had since he was six. The new pieces saw how much the old trusted him, despite the fact that he was playing with James meaning that he wasn't playing with any kind of strategy in mind (as he'd completely own James within five turns if he actually tried.) They saw the older pieces do exactly as they were told and followed that example. It meant that they had to play it twice to use all of Sirius' new pieces, but neither of them really minded that.

Breakfast was small, because they were saving room for dinner, but it was, as always, delicious.

Charles was the first to fall asleep after they ate.

"He does that every year." James laughed when Sirius questioned it, "he'll probably do it again after dinner."

The two continued to mess with their new stuff until some of James family arrived, as they apparently did every Christmas.

That's when things got a little awkward.

Many of James' relatives and family friends weren't exactly excited about a Black joining in on their Christmas celebration. More so the Potters than Elizabeth's side of the family, but with some of the junk the Daily Prophet had been spouting previously even some of them were weary of Sirius.

Sirius tried to be courteous and stay out of their way, but when James found him half hiding (under the ruse of helping out) in the kitchen he dragged him out forcing him to socialize with the others. Sirius had gotten pretty good at ignoring James' paternal grandmother, the oldest in the family, whenever she mentioned him by the time the radio came on, which seemed to be another tradition. Everyone quieted to listen to the Minister of Magic as well as the Muggle Queen wish everyone a happy Christmas. Sirius kinda tuned out the Minister, but was intrigued by the Queen. He hadn't even known that Britain still had a queen, or that she had a daughter, who apparently recently got married.

Elizabeth and James managed to get most of the family to treat Sirius like the guest he was. Elizabeth though persuasion, and James by threatening to hit them. Only a few of them continued to pretend he didn't exist, and only the old bag openly rejected his presence. Charles had attempted to get his mother to be civilized not long after she arrived, but eventually he just told Sirius she was senile and that she complained about everything, essentially telling him to just ignore her.

Dinner came not long after the radio was turned off, despite the fact that Sirius considered four o'clock to be lunch time, but he certainly wasn't going to complain. The cooked goose was far too tasty for any sort of complaining, unless one was an old crone who thought that being the eldest in a family still meant that all decisions made must be approved by them (she'd wanted turkey). But most of the family just ignored her, and the polite ones simple just changed the subject.

Elizabeth had mercifully set Sirius in between James and Peter. Across from Sirius, sitting beside Elizabeth herself was her younger sister, who she knew Sirius would like. She had been right, of course. James' aunt was about McGonagall's age, and reminded Sirius of said transfiguration teacher, though she was a lot less responsible, and quite different in personality once she started talking.

Everything went so quickly as Sirius tried to get used to his surroundings. Before he managed it began to get dark and Elizabeth mentioned that they should be getting ready for the Christmas church service. James could tell easily that Sirius was not comfortable with the idea going to a church while they were actually holding service. When there was no one there it was merely a building, but when people gathered there it became something special, something that Sirius didn't think he belonged in. Elizabeth tried to convince him otherwise, the pastor would be more than happy to welcome him, even if he knew what kind of family Sirius belonged to. But Sirius wouldn't be convinced so James offered to stay home with him. He didn't really want to, because he really enjoyed going to the services, but he wanted Sirius home alone on Christmas even less. Elizabeth and Charles reluctantly agreed.

And finally the house was empty. Sirius had enjoyed having all the people around, and would enjoy having them around if they came back after their church service. But it was good to have a chance to breath again.

"You okay?" James asked sitting down in front of his chessboard hinting that Sirius should do the same.

Sirius complied setting up the board. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little overwhelmed, I guess. I've been to parties before, but they usually consisted of a bunch of adults sitting around drinking alcohol and anyone under seventeen was expected to sit down and shut up. 'Children are to be seen, not heard' and all.."

"Sounds like a drag."

"I dreaded them. It's not really in my nature to sit and be quiet for long periods of time. I could do it sure, you can't survive in the Black family without being able to be invisible for at least four hours at at time. But just because I could do it doesn't mean it was easy."

"I can't picture you going four hours without talking or moving around. Unless you're sleeping of course." James teased, making the first move.

"I got told off for fidgeting a lot. And Regulus always enjoyed the end of the parties because as soon as everyone left I'd start running around the upstairs (where mother couldn't see me) and talking a lot and very fast. After a while he started timing how long i'd talk without stopping for longer than to take a breath. My record is an hour and a half. My throat didn't like me much after that."

James laughed. "I'll bet."

"Things were a lot different back then... I was a lot different back then." Sirius said quietly, waving off a complaint from one of the new chess pieces.

"I didn't know that Sirius very well. But I'm pretty sure I like this Sirius better." James knight smashed in the head of Sirius' pawn.

"Thanks James, I think I do too." Sirius said with a smile. "This Sirius is a lot happier than that Sirius was."

"Thank you, thank you. I already knew I was the best friend in the world, but the reminder is always welcome."

Sirius laughed. "Oh, shut up, you stupid doe."

"That deer had antlers!" James defended quickly, following up by pushing Sirius down. It only increased the volume of Sirius' laughter.

"You know, in some places stag refers to nudity."

"I really hate you Sirius Black. I really, truly hate you."

Sirius laughed. "I love you too. Jamesy-poo" He said with a teasing smile.

"Don't make me make another Sirius pun."

"James! That joke is so old." Sirius growled. "I mean it's like first-year old, even for you."

"What do you mean 'even for me'." James gave him an annoyed look, half from what Sirius had implied, and half because Sirius had just made the first non-violent move in the game.

"No offence, but..." Sirius let his voice trail off leaving the rest up to James imagination which naturally came up with a lot of endings to that sentence that were far meaner than whatever Sirius was thinking, as he had intended.

"My sense of humor is great!"

"Well you did just about resort to a joke that even Cissy had come up with before she was fifteen."

"Cissy... Cissy is... Wait which one is Cissy?" James asked he knew which one Andy was as Sirius talked about her a lot, and he was pretty sure Bella was a cousin.

"The one that's becoming a Malfoy in July." Sirius replied rolling his eyes he really hated Lucius, but then again there was a surprising amount of affection between the two of them. Not just attraction, but actual affection.

It was in a word, shocking.

"Eww, by the way, how's Andy doing?"

"Pretty good, apparently their honeymoon went great. She said she hasn't been feeling real great lately but that last month, I haven't heard anything since." Sirius shrugged, making up for his previous non-violent move with one that pretty much beat James' record of most violent moves.

"Not feeling good... after a honeymoon?" James said with an eyebrow raised and a expression that spoke of mischief.

"Yeah, I figured she might have caught a bug or something. She said they were going up north." Sirius looked at him for a moment and his eyebrow went even higher. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

James' expression went from humor to disbelief and straight to pity. "Mate, we are going to need to have a serious talk."

"I thought I explained how bad those puns are!"

"It wasn't a pun, I am perfectly ser... um wait what other word means the same thing?"

"Somber, stern, severe, sincere, deep, determined, austere, honest, genuine, solemn, earnest grave... shall I continue?" Sirius replied, rattling off the words at the top of his head.

"Oops, for a second there I forgot I was friends with a walking, talking dictionary... Wait did you say solemn?" James asked, Sirius mutely nodded. "I pick solemn, I will now substitute solemn for serious."

"It doesn't work every time, James. It's depending on how..." Sirius began but James interrupted him.

"Nope, I'm using solemn, you said it means the same thing."

"But.."

"No, solemn... ly" James interrupted a second time, deciding solemn needed the suffix at the last minute."

"Fine, whatever. What did we need to talk about?"

James smirked, a cruel expression in his eyes.

Said expression would cause most to turn around screaming... so naturally it unnerved Sirius, just a little.

* * *

A/N) I hope I didn't rush though the chapter, I wanted to kinda make you feel how Sirius felt. Or to make it kinda show you how he felt anyway, but when I read over it it felt a little rushed, so I added a lot more to their conversation at the end. Does it help any?

Oh, and I forgot to put any of the top ten thing I was going to do (I kinda cant believe you guys actually want to hear it. Please don't get offended if I put something you like.) So here's number 10

#10 **Sirius using serious puns, or copious amounts of said puns **(I really didn't plan on using sirius puns in this chapter, it was a complete coincidence I swear.)

I hate this because they are really uncreative (I did kinda hint to that in this chapter) and to give Sirius, or show that the author has, such humor is kinda well it feels like they are desperately searching for a joke and that bugs me a lot. I used a little in the beginning on purpose to show how bad James' humor was back then, hoping to show a little bit of inexperience in the area since in this story Sirius' influence is what led him to become the James Potter we all know and love (and Lily hates, hint, hint)

But when people use it as Sirius' man joke, it irritates the crap out of me.


	80. It's Alive!

Chapter 80

It's Alive!

"Ewww, James, NO!" Remus could hear Sirius yelling from inside the Hogwarts Express. Remus rolled his eyes and gave a small laugh, it would figure first thing he'd hear out of the pair was James driving Sirius bonkers. He felt bad for James parents, he really did.

"Come on, Si, you have to know sometime, and your parents certainly aren't going to tell you." James' voice was getting closer to the compartment, Remus opened the door so they would know where he was sitting.

"No, I really don't. I assure you I will never need this information in my entire life." Sirius saw Remus sitting there looking highly amused and ran into the compartment, shutting it very quickly so that James and Peter could not get in.

"That is bullcrap and you know it, Sirius." James didn't even bother to knock.

"What's going on?" Remus finally asked unable to hold his curiosity any longer.

"I am now scared for life that's what." Sirius let go of the door for a second and James instantly tried to open it, somehow knowing Sirius had done so, thus the two finally started fighting over the door.

"So, what else is new?" Remus replied highly amused by their antics. He'd missed them a lot.

"I mean it this time, Moony, he's finally done it. He's finally scared me for life."

James finally got the door open enough for him to go through and, as Sirius didn't have anything against Peter at the moment, so he let Peter in without a fuss. Peter seemed just as amused as Remus, though his amusement was mixed with a bit of envy.

"What did you do?" Remus asked causing Peter to finally start laughing as though he'd been holding it in for a while.

"Sirius didn't know what people do on honeymoons." James said as though Sirius had a life threatening condition.

"And I was perfectly happy not knowing thank you very much!" Sirius retorted, clearly sulking.

"You're kidding, you're fourteen and you don't even know the birds in the bees?" Remus asked, not wanting to embarrass his clearly already embarrassed friend, but that was hard to swallow.

"Birds and the bees?" James asked looking at him strangely.

"Sorry, muggle expression."

"Oh, anyway I was trying to tell him, you know like a good friend, but he stopped letting me talk to him when I said the b-word."

"B-word?"

"Baby." Peter answered clearly raising his voice a little. Wanting to be sure Sirius heard him.

"Erg! No, No more talking about this, I don't want to know, I don't need to know. I'm not getting married, I'm not getting a girlfriend, I am not producing offspring of any kind! I don't need to know!" Sirius said loudly, before realizing there was a very high chance the people in the next compartment could probably hear him.

"Sirius, wow, just wow, didn't your parents..." Remus began trailing off as he realized what he was saying. "No, I guess they wouldn't have would they. Eleven is a little young for that kind of thing."

James opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't find words, he felt kinda bad now for making fun of Sirius' lack of knowledge in the area, but Remus was right. Sirius' parents probably wouldn't have told him any of this.

The compartment was quiet, Sirius looked away for a moment before deciding that that was the longest he could stand them pitying him like that.

"Remus, do you have tons of Christmas traditions too? Cuz, James' family has like a million and two, is that normal?"

Remus laughed. "Yes, Sirius, that's normal."

"I don't get it. Why do the same thing every year?"

"Well for us it's because there's less planning to do. We have a lot of people over, so it's just easier if everyone knows what we're doing before we even start planning it." James shrugged, letting the new conversation kill the old one.

"We just like the things we do and don't try to change it." Remus added, "we don't have a party, just the three of us."

"Sounds boring." Sirius sat sideways and closed his eyes, thankfully Sirius wasn't that tall yet or Peter might be having some trouble finding room.

"Nah, you only do it once a year." James shrugged, smiling at Sirius' relaxed pose. The break had been a little hectic for Sirius, between the extremely advanced potion they'd had to make, Christmas, and New Years (in which Sirius, surprisingly, had actually celebrated, though his family didn't consider it a holiday worth much more than an acknowledgement) and messing around with James, Sirius hadn't got much in the way of actual rest.

Watching Sirius learn how to celebrate Christmas was something James immensely enjoyed. He couldn't say he thought it was funny, nor could he say it was entirely happy. But he knew he wouldn't have missed the experience for the world. Or more importantly for the pretty redhead who was just now opening the door of their compartment.

"What on earth are you doing in here?" She scolded. "I can hear you lot yelling about marriage and offspring from three compartments down!"

It took exactly three seconds of silence before James, Remus, and Peter all started laughing at her statement, and laughing hard.

Sirius' hid his face in his hands not wanting to be seen by anyone at the moment, let alone someone his age of the opposite sex.

"Oh, grow up." She said at the three laughing boys. For the first time in her entire schooling career she wondered if Sirius had been telling the truth when he said Remus really wasn't as mature as he acted. It would definitely explain why he hung out with Potter and Black all the time. She gave an irritated huff and half slammed the door walking back to her own compartment.

"I don't like any of you, you know that?" Sirius said peeking out from his hands, he only succeeded in making them laugh even more.

* * *

James smirked as he exited the carriage leading them away from the Hogwarts express and directly to the entrance of Hogwarts itself. He gave Remus a smirk and stealthily handed the werewolf his most prized possession, Remus immediately backed out of the crowd, all of them too excited about telling their friends what they'd gotten for Christmas to notice the small, sickly looking boy trying to squeeze in between them, even too busy to notice when that boy completely vanished in thin air.

"Where'd he go off too?" They heard from behind them. James turned to see Frank Longbottem standing behind him and wearing an expression curiosity. Apparently not everyone was too distracted to see Remus leave

"Went to see McGonagall about something. He's a major teacher's pet." Sirius said with a light laugh, ever since they had found out what their animagus forms will be James had begun noticing more and more things about Sirius and Peter that reminded him of their animals, such as Sirius' laugh resembling a bark, and Peter squeaking when he was scared. He wondered if he did it too. What sounds does a stag make anyway?

"Minus the record setting detentions... right?"

"Hey now, I hold the record of most detentions." Sirius replied, looking highly offended.

"Of all time?" Frank asked curiously, now walking with them into the Great Hall.

"Well, not yet, but I'm over halfway there, in the rate I'm going I'll have it beat by the end of sixth year." Sirius said proudly.

"Who keeps track of this stuff?"

"Remus keeps track of our number of detentions." James answered stopping at their seat to continue talking to Frank, whom they knew was planning on sitting with his friend Alice.

"Seriously? Remus does?"

"Yep."

"What do I do?" Remus said from behind Frank. Who jumped at the added voice, Remus laughed. "Sorry."

"He he, I meant to do that." Frank defended poorly. "I should go sit down. Alice looks like she's looking for me.. See ya, Remus." He smiled and gave Remus a wave as though to tell him it wasn't because of Remus that he'd left, before heading off to sit with his friend (whom James noted was sitting beside Evans.)

"What do I do?" Remus repeated as they all sat down.

"You keep track of our number of detentions."

"Oh, is that all?" Remus just shrugged, as though it was old news, which to him it was.

"You got all the way down to the kitchen that fast?" Sirius said, clearly impressed. "How?"

"I ran on all fours, you know like a wolf, of the non-animal variety." Remus chuckled at his own joke. The other three just stared at him. "What?"

"You made a joke..." Sirius said looking at him as though he'd never seen him before.

"I do it all the time what are you on about?"

"You joked about your furry little problem!" James said, shock mixed with pride in his voice.

"Oh, that. Yeah I guess I did." Remus smiled, clearly proud of himself.

"Who are you and what have you done with my friend." Sirius said his expression not changing.

"Meet the new and improved, Moony. " Remus said again smiling, their eyes widened impossibly larger.

"You just called yourself Moony." James said slowly.

Remus laughed. "Yeah, I've been accidently saying it in my head for a while now, I knew I'd come out eventually."

Sirius cheered loudly, thankfully the food appeared right then so everyone assumed that was the reason.

People immediately began to fill their plates.

Or at least they tried to. The moment someone reached for a ladle, or grabbed a scone the food immediately jumped away from them to their immense surprise. Some people screamed as a large helping of pudding jumped onto their head, others tried to catch their dinners.

It was chaos, and the Marauders loved it. James jumped after a particularly fast potato, while Remus was holding a struggling pork pie.

McGonagall and Dumbledore had been prepared for something to happen, but even this was not what they expected. Seeing Dumbledore with a whole steak and kidney pie on his head was almost more than James could handle

Sirius got his wand out and after shooing away couple of particularly springy peas that was attempting to hide in his hair he began to write.

**We Wish You A Merry Christmas**

**We Wish You A Merry Christmas**

**We Wish You A Merry Christmas**

**And We'll Be Here All Year!**

McGonagall was clearly trying very hard to keep from yelling in frustration as she fought off a boiled potato with a soup ladle while reading the annual Marauder Christmas message.

"Why does that sound like a threat?" Professor Slughorn said attempting to vanish McGonagall's boiled potato but missing every hit, eventually hitting her ladle. She then proceeded to glare at him in a way that most definitely did not resemble their transfiguration teacher at all, snatched his wand from his hand (hers had been previously hidden by pack of ravenous chocolate éclairs) and blew the boiled potato up. Not just into little pieces either, she blew it up into smoldering cinders, complete with dust cloud and everything. Before finally handing Slughorn's wand back to him and searching for her own.

Needless to say the Marauders labeled this prank a culinary success.

And McGonagall's glare would be forever etched in their minds as the single greatest out of character moment a teacher has ever shown. And it would have been so even if it wasn't directed at Slughbreath...

That was only the icing on top of the cake.

* * *

A/N) I loved this prank a lot. I hope I did McGonagall's epic battle with the boiled potato justice, because it was amazing in my head.

Top ten Marauder pet peeves.

#10 **Sirius using serious puns, or copious amounts of said puns**

# 9******. Marauder's falling in love with Lily's 'imaginary' friends**

This is a very irritating way to give the rest of the Marauders love interests I get that Lily probably had friends we don't know about as she was (if I remember correctly) kinda popular and the only friend we know of is Snape. But really when Sirius and Remus just happen to fall in love with James' doe's best friends things are taken a little too far. I hate coincidences in fiction, or rather large important details being coincidences. (Which is sorta why Goblet of Fire is one of my least favorite in there series, tied with Chamber of Secrets. Because it seems way too much of a coincidence that the triwizard tournament just happeneds to have been played for the first time in hundreds of years while Harry was at school, Dumbledore just happened to pick the one person no one would believe when they claimed someone broke into their home as DADA teacher that year, Wormtail just happened to find the stupidest witch in the ministry while on vacation, and all this just happened to happen the right after Wormtail [somehow] managed to find Voldemort)

Not one of them could possibly go out with someone in a different house or year? Really?

Maybe I'm over criticizing it, it's up to you, this is just how I feel about it, and I'm not saying all stories with it are bad, I've found a few that are good. I'm just saying in general, I don't like it.


	81. An Average Day

Chapter 81

An Average Day

By transfiguration the next morning Professor McGonagall was perfectly calm. Surprisingly calm actually.

Sirius hypothesized that someone had practiced one of their cheering charms on her.

She hypothesized that someone had put Sirius and James under the imperius curse.

As she spoke on what she believes to be one of the most boring lectures in her entire schedule the two of them were intently soaking up every word that came out of her mouth. It was one of the few lessons that didn't involve actually performing the spell they were required to learn about. Yet the two terrors were anything but.

Were animagi transformations that interesting?

When the bell rang and they finally moved she got a chance to properly observe them. She didn't seriously think they'd been put under the imperius curse, but they definitely were plotting something. And that something involved her or her class, she was sure of it.

She was also pretty sure there was nothing she could do to stop them.

"What are you two playing at?" Remus asked when they left the classroom, now out of the half-panicked teacher's sight.

"What are you talking about?" Sirius said innocently, unfortunately Sirius' innocent voice usually had the exact opposite effect of what he was usually using it for.

"Since when do you pay attention in class? Especially you, James. At least Sirius has the excuse of sucking at transfig."

"It was a different lesson, most of the stuff she talks about I've known since I started school, but not this time." James said sounding sincere, Sirius noticed that he'd tried very hard to word it so it wouldn't be an outright lie. It was surprisingly well done. Sirius would have to congratulate him on that.

"I'll believe that when Peter turns into a rat." Remus said rolling his eyes and walking off towards the common room.

The three remaining Marauders just barely managed to hold their laughter until after Remus was out of earshot.

"I heard that!"

Or not...

"Stupid werewolf ears." James mumbled still not over his giggle fit.

"And that." Remus peeked his head from the corner. "Are you coming or not?"

"Coming Oh Mighty Moony!" Sirius said with a slight bow.

"What?"

"You've been surprisingly awesome lately." Sirius smiled walking up and putting his arm around Remus' shoulders.

"And why exactly is that so surprising?"

"Umm, well, I" Sirius attempted to think of a good excuse... one that wouldn't force him to spend the next week actually taking his own History of Magic notes.

"Si, look." James said suddenly pointing in what to Sirius looked like a random direction.

"Um, mate, what exactly am I looking at?"

"Evans cut her hair over break." He said as though this was something to stop and look at.

"Um, first of all, no she didn't it's the same length, second of all, why exactly should I care?" Sirius said, grateful for the distraction but not impressed with the topic of conversation.

"No it's definitely shorter, it was below her elbows before, now it's above, I'm guessing two inches."

Sirius looked at him, realizing that James may not have just been trying to save him from Moony, and may have actually meant for his opinion on the subject. He contemplated the matter for a moment.

"Mate, have you eaten anything she's given you lately?" He asked completely serious, James gave him a confused look.

"No, why would she give me anything, she doesn't even like me."

"Do you feel abnormally happy?"

"No"

"What about strangely light?"

"Sirius, I have not ingested a love potion."

"Just making sure!" Sirius defended hastily, he was kinda impressed James figured it out that fast.

"I just like her hair okay. It's pretty."

"It's red."

"What's wrong with red?"

"Nothing" he said quickly. "If you like that kind of thing. I guess."

"You guess? It's very pretty. Very bright, not ginger, but like a dark red."

Sirius continued to look at him as though he was an alien from Jupiter. "It's red."

"It's dark red."

"James, you're stupid."

"I don't care. That's what color it is."

"I think it's just an inch shorter." Remus added tilting his head a little to look at her 'properly'.

"You think so. I'm not sure... wait, you're mocking me aren't you."

"Yep." Remus laughed turning and heading back to the common room a second time, except this time Sirius followed, giving James a slightly worried expression.

"I have such wonderful friends." James said to himself as he slowly followed.

"What..."

"It was sarcasm, Peter." James interrupted before he could hear the entire statement.

"Oh,"

By the time James and Peter had entered the common room Remus and Sirius had already begun their respective activities. Remus working on the homework McGonagall had just given them and Sirius was fiddling around with the Map. Peter simply switched out his Transfig book for his Care of Magical creatures book and headed out, knowing it would take him the good part of the hour just to get down to the grounds, what with the near foot of snow on the ground outside. It was days like this he regretted taking this class.

James reviewed his Muggle studies homework one time before sitting on the arm of Sirius' chair and watching him draw a new passageway on the Map.

"We need a way to pass notes in class." James said suddenly.

Remus looked up from the homework, "Where did that come from?"

"We were talking about it before break. In Runes. We were passing notes, but decided to ask Sirius if he knew any better ways."

"Why me?" Sirius asked, not looking up from the map, he was trying very hard to remember the exact angle of the curve in the tunnel he was drawing.

"You're the one that comes up with all the neat spells like that."

"Remus came up with the fire one." Sirius replied not going into further details as there were other students around.

"But you come up with most of them."

"Besides, you have the most experience with charms and it's your best subject. It's not like we can't look it up, we were just wondering if you knew anything off the top of your head. I can go to the library while you're at Muggle Studies."

"No, I already have an idea, I just have to look it up. I was just messing." Sirius smiled at them, putting his quill down and placing the Map in his pocket. Remus rolled his eyes, humor etched on his face.

He headed to their dorm with James not far behind, Sirius grabbed his Muggle Studies and Divination books first then searched under his bed for another book. James didn't recognize it.

"I swiped some money from my parents and bought a few books, thought they might come in handy eventually, yes James I know, me actually buy books. I was hoping to do something with the Map, actually I was curious to see if there was more we could do with it."

"Why?"

"I dunno, bored I guess. I haven't found anything so far."

Sirius waited for James to grab his Muggle book and his Runes book before heading down the stairs. Once back in the common room Sirius tossed the book to Remus who caught it easily.

"It's in there somewhere, in the chapter about spies I think. See if that's what you're looking for." Sirius shrugged and waved to Remus as he and James headed for class.

They were talking about the essay as they entered the classroom.

"I couldn't find a single reason that muggles need their bloody electricity. Everything I found had the simple counter argument that they didn't have electricity a couple hundred years ago." Sirius said irritably, that stupid essay had taken him a full hour... which was about forty five minutes more than he spent on anything except transfiguration.

"Ignore the counter argument?" James shrugged, he hadn't really thought of a counter argument. "Who cares, Quidditch practice is tomorrow."

"I wonder if muggles could use electricity to play Quidditch." Sirius said as they sat down. The both of them laughed, they didn't really know why, they just laughed.

"To answer your question, Sirius. No they cannot. At least not yet. They haven't managed to invent anything that allows them to fly without enormous amounts of power, and even those have limitations that makes Quidditch impossible to be played on them." The teacher smiled from her desk, still waiting for the students to file in.

"Will they be able to? Eventually?" James asked, surprisingly curious.

"Maybe, I doubt even the Divination professor knows the answer to that question. It certainly seems possible. That is, if they knew what Quidditch was."

James gave a small laugh. "That's true."

Muggle Studies went as usual, Sirius naturally gave a rather long speech about why muggles don't need electricity when asked if there were any questions about the homework. A speech that surprisingly gave him bonus points.

James thought it sounded pointless, but whatever.

Sirius enlightened Remus on the impossibility of Muggle Quidditch when they met for lunch. Remus simply humored him, as he already knew pretty much everything Sirius was saying, but, hey, if Sirius wanted to talk about semi-academic things Remus wasn't going to stop him.

"Did you find it?" Sirius asked suddenly, despite his last sentence had been purely on the topic of muggles and Quidditch. It caught Remus off guard for a second but he quickly adjusted, as he'd actually been listening to Sirius this entire time, unlike what most people would have done.

"Yeah, it wasn't what I was thinking of, but it actually sounds better. Plus I found something else, but let's talk about it later."

"Okay, if I remember it correctly it seemed a little difficult, but it's been a little while."

"Wait? What? What seems difficult?" James asked, not following the conversation as he'd tuned out Sirius a long time ago.

"The charm, stupid. The one so we can talk to each other in class without passing notes." Sirius told him, knowing full well James hadn't been listening to him, but choosing to insult him anyway.

"Oh, that charm."

"Yeah, that one."

"It shouldn't be too hard to learn, compared to vanishing charms it's a cinch." Remus told him with a rather sly smile.

Sirius laughed, "Well then it'll be no problem for me, you guys might have some trouble though."

"Do we each have to do it?" Peter asked, knowing full well that this was probably out of his league.

"Nah, I was just commenting on how much better I am than the rest of you. I can do it myself."

"After class." Remus added looking at his wristwatch and shoving some food in his mouth before gathering up his books.

"Well duh." Sirius laughed doing the same.

They split ways, Remus and James headed for Runes while Sirius went to Divination. Peter had the period off.

Sirius surprisingly enjoyed the climb all the way up to the Divination tower, it used up some of his excess energy. He was pretty sure it was the only reason Evans hadn't begged to have a new partner. Then again, every once in awhile he would catch her laughing at one of his jokes, not often, but enough that he wondered if there really was a sense of humor underneath all that hair.

Said Miss Evans was already in the classroom by the time he'd arrived and he silently took his seat in front of her, wondering how long it would take her to look up from the crystal ball and notice he was here. She'd probably jump.

And jump she did. She even gave a little squeal, he laughed at her.

"That's not funny, Black" She huffed. "Nor was it the last three times."

"No, what was funny is that I've done it three times and it still startles you."

She was going to retort, but the professor began class and she could not do so. He smirked at her, knowing that if their positions had been switched he would have continued talking despite the teacher.

It wasn't long before they were told to continue to gaze in the crystal ball and could continue to talk.

"I'll have you know..." She began but he rolled his eyes and interrupted her.

"That conversation is so ten minutes ago."

"What?"

"Did you cut your hair?" He asked purely randomly, not really caring in the slightest, but he knew James would want to know. Especially if he was wrong and Sirius was right.

Well, James wouldn't want to know that, but Sirius would want to tell him.

"A little" She said hesitantly. "How'd you notice, no one else has."

"I didn't, James did. Something about it not being at your elbows or something." Sirius waved it off looking at the crystal ball and ignoring the silhouette of a man he saw in it. He saw the same thing every time, the teacher liked to use him as proof that she was doing a good job teaching, but really he'd seen stuff in it without her help or without this magical 'Eye' she always talked about, it was a little stupid really. That and none of the other's had managed to 'See' with her help.

You know, it sorta looked like James...

And that's when Sirius decided this class was causing his sanity to slowly drift away.

"Why would he notice? We hardly even see each other."

Sirius ignored the muttered thankfully she tacked on the end.

"Not sure, first I thought maybe you'd slipped him a love potion or something... but he doesn't have any of the other symptoms."

"Why on Earth would I slip him a love potion? Unless it was for the sheer amusement of turning him down every time he asks me out." She looked into the crystal ball, seeing absolutely nothing within.

"I don't know, that might be too cruel even for you. You know what that stuff does to you? Turns you into a complete moron that's what."

"So in other words it would have absolutely no effect on him." She said looking up at Sirius.

He gave a loud bark like laugh. "Holy crap, Evans, you do have a sense of humor."

She gave a small smile, she couldn't remember anyone complementing her sense of humor before, her grades or her looks sure, but her sense of humor wasn't something people seemed to notice about her. It felt kinda nice actually.

Not that she'd ever admit that to anyone.

Just then the Professor decided she needed a little cheering up and asked Sirius what he saw in the crystal ball, knowing he'd have an answer, unlike the rest of the class.

The more and more he looked at that stupid orb the more and more it looked like James.

But why on Earth would James be a prominent part of Lily Evans' future?

* * *

A/N) James' obsession slowly comes out in the open. ^_^ Awww.

I explain last chapter's prank in the next chapter, don't worry.

Top ten Marauder pet peeves.

#10 **Sirius using serious puns, or copious amounts of said puns**

# 9**. Marauder's falling in love with Lily's 'imaginary' friends**

# 8**. Any of the Marauders dating Lily**

This one's kinda obvious, but people still do it. They'll have one of the Marauders, usually Remus but I've seen Sirius do it to, go out with Lily while James is trying to win her over... Seriously? What kind of friend does that? It's okay if it's before James starts chasing her, or maybe (if it's done well) if they talk to James about it (it's hardly ever done well.)


	82. An Abundance of Frogs

Chapter 82

An Abundance of Frogs

"I think Moony's in heaven." Sirius said with a smirk on his face as they finally finished with all their classes and headed for the common room that afternoon.

James laughed in response while Moony just chuckled and with a half eaten chocolate frog hanging from his mouth.

"I can't believe he's gone through five of them already." Sirius shook his head as James told the fat lady the password and climbed up the stairs to their dorm.

"Well I'm just glad he likes chocolate that much, because fifty chocolate frogs is way too much for me." James teasingly elbowed Remus in the ribs, causing him to remove the tasty frog from his mouth to join in the conversation.

"I loved this prank so much."

"It's kinda annoying that only half of the frogs are still moving through." Sirius replied emptying his school bag of everything and loading it with his History book and notebook.

"Well fifty chocolate frogs are a little hard to control. Remember?" James said clearly teasing him.

"I thought we weren't going to mention that ever again." Sirius glared at James.

"I don't get why they stopped moving." Peter said interrupting their conversation, he poked one of the bags of chocolate frogs on Remus' bed, jumping in surprised when he realized it was one of the ones that was still moving.

"We tried to remove the spell from some of them, in an attempt to see how they work. We were able to use the same spell on the food at dinner that way. We altered the spell a little though. It wouldn't have caused enough mayhem as it was. Weren't you paying attention at all?" Sirius rolled his eyes at the soon-to-be rat, before opening his Transfiguration book and beginning the homework.

"I paid attention; I just didn't understand what you were doing."

"Didn't we tell you that already?"

"No."

"Oh." Sirius said awkwardly, looking up from his book. "Sorry, I thought we did."

"I think fifty was a little unnecessary though, not that I'm complaining." Remus said with a very happy smile.

"I was just going to get twenty, but they said they'd give me a discount if I bought fifty, so I was like, 'Hey why not'." James said adding a shrug to show how little he cared about how much money he was actually spending.

"James, sometimes I wonder just how much money you spend on the average shopping trip. And how many third world countries you could feed with the amount you spend in a week."

"Hey, everytime I buy something that money goes to someone else to help them with whatever they need. I support less wealthy families all the time. The truly cruel thing would be keep all the money for myself and never buy anything with it." James defended, not sure exactly why it was even an issue. He knew Remus' parents had little money, but James bought stuff for Remus all the time.

"Your logic is missing a few details, but I suppose there's no point in arguing it is there." Remus gave James an exasperated look before continuing to munch on his frog.

"And don't forget my willingness to spend lots of money just set you up with enough chocolate to last you a month..." James paused for a moment as Remus raised his eyebrows at him before adding, "hopefully."

Remus laughed though his chocolate frog and picked up the book Sirius had handed him earlier this morning, moving to sit on Sirius' bed. Remus found the page that explained the charm they were speaking about earlier and placed it beside Sirius' transfiguration book. Naturally, Sirius pushed the transfiguration book aside and reread the spell book.

"That doesn't seem too complicated." He said, tapping his Transfiguration book and muttering a spell that added a magical bookmark to the page he was on and closed the book. "James can you hand me four pieces of blank parchment?"

James, who had already begun to head towards the two 'puppies', stopped and grabbed the parchment as he was asked.

"Why four? Isn't that a bit much?" He asked handing them over.

"One for each of us, I would have used my own, but I've written on all of them." Sirius replied not looking up from the book to grab the paper from James.

He practiced the wand movements for about a minute while James and Peter read the spellbook, Peter understood very little it had to say, but James seemed irritated.

"Not overly complicated? I'm pretty sure this is at least a fifth year spell." James said quietly to Remus, not wanting to interrupt Sirius' practice.

"Yeah, so is vanishing, but he's been doing that since Halloween." Remus just shrugged.

"That's true."

"It's probably the only reason we haven't been suspected as being the Marauders." Remus added, watching Sirius work on the pronunciation of _segreto. _Though to him every attempt sounded the exact same. "Most of the spells or potions necessary to do what the Marauders do is far above our assumed skill level. They know we're above our average skill level but since the only really see us in class they don't really know how far above we are."

"Makes ego inflation really easy, doesn't it." James laughed.

They both jumped when one of Sirius' parchments exploded.

Sirius' small "Oops." was all James and Remus needed until they were nearly collapsed on each other curling up laughing so hard tears fell from their eyes.

"I'm surrounded by hyenas." Sirius watched him practically rolling around on his bed, highly amused when James fell off.

"I don't get what's so funny." Peter said edging away from the bed in case Remus fell off too.

"I'm not sure myself actually." Sirius turned from them and continued on the remaining three parchments, the charm now working perfectly. "Pete, can you hand me another parchment?" He asked and Peter complied.

By the time Remus and James had calmed themselves down Sirius was testing his handy work on each of the four pages.

On one page he wrote at the top left.

_Sirius Black_

On each of the the three other pages the words appeared just as he had written, though no pen touched their pages.

He continued to do so to each of the four pages. Putting each of their names across the top of the page each name on a different page and each name showing up on all the rest.

James couldn't help but be impressed.

"So when we're in different classes..." he trailed off.

"It'll be like we're right next to each other." Sirius finished obviously proud of himself.

"Mate, you're a genious."

"Thank you."

"It'll do." Remus nodded picking up the page Sirius had written _Remus Lupin_ on.

"we could put our initial in front of what we write, it might help recognizing who is writing. I doubt Peter can recognize all of our handwriting." Sirius said, not really dissing Peter, simply stating a fact.

"Sorry." Peter said glumly.

"Don't worry about it, Peter. I still have trouble differentiating between you and Remus' handwriting." James said, smiling at his friend. Peter smiled in response.

James reached over and poked Peter in the side causing Peter to squeak and lean away. James laughed at Peter's reaction only spurring on his need to continue. And before the others knew what was going on the poking turned into outright tickling with James chasing Peter around the room. Remus laughed before returning to his own bed and continuing to look though Sirius' book. Sirius watched until Peter ran out of the dorm with James still chasing before returning to his Transfig homework.

Eventually the two returned to the dorm, with lingering smiles on their faces. James finally unpacked his school bag and began on his homework.

An hour later James and Sirius were finished with everything.

And Remus was more than a little jealous, Peter was extremely jealous.

James finally grabbed his parchment from where it still lay on Sirius' bed and decided to test it out. Partially since he didn't want to disturb Remus and Peter, but mostly just because it was cool. Sirius didn't have to be told what James wanted to do, he knew the moment James grabbed his paper.

_**J: It's kinda like our mirror, isn't it? But four way instead of two way.**_

_S: And a little more convenient. _

_**J: Can't deny that. That mirror is kinda bulky.**_

_S: Well it is about three hundred years old..._

There was silence on the other side for a time.

_**J: Seri... er Solemnly? Hah, that sounds really stupid.**_

_S: Seriously. And yes it does sound stupid, you should stop._

_**J: Where'd you get it. and Not a chance, it amuses me.**_

_S: I told you, I got it from my uncle. It was a family heirloom._

_**J: Dude, they will kill you if they find out you gave it to me, is that really a good idea?**_

_S: James, are you doubting my ability to hide things from them? I mean, really, I could hang the Gryffindor banner over my bed and they'd never even notice._

_**J: That would be the single coolest thing you have ever done. And I'm not even joking.**_

_S: Where can I get ahold of a Gryffindor banner? Without stealing it from the Quidditch pitch?_

_**J: Can you buy one?**_

_S: Hmm, not sure really._

_**J: Just steal it from the Quidditch pitch then. **_

Remus looked up at Sirius when the latter started laughing for seemingly no reason. Shaking his head when he saw the parchment and the quill before returning to his Runes essay he'd started not long ago.

_**J: You know what this invention needs?**_

_S: What?_

_**J: The Marauder's Motto. **_

_S: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good?_

_**J: Mischief Managed**_

This time Remus jumped when Sirius quickly got off his bed and half ran grabbing the page almost from James' hands.

"Moony, I need yours too." Sirius ignored the irritated look Remus gave him for startling him and plopped down on his bed.

"Find some fatal flaw in your spell casting?" Remus said with a mocking smirk

"Me? Make a mistake? Of course not. James just had a marvellous idea." He defended, dramatically putting a hand over his heart as though he was gravely offended by the mere thought.

Remus rolled his eyes and stifled a laugh he pulled it out and read through their conversation as he moved to give it to Sirius.

Sirius put an additional charm on each of the pages, one that Remus recognized.

"You're putting a password on them?" He looked over Sirius' shoulder as the latter wrote 'Mischief Managed' on the last page.

"Sure, we might be talking about sensitive stuff when a teacher walks by or something, you of all people should see a reason for that, Moony." Sirius didn't look up from what he was doing until each page was blank.

"Sure I get the point, what surprises me is that it was James who came up with the idea." Remus teased.

"Well, everyone has their moment to shine," Sirius shrugged causing James to glare at the both of them.

"I'll have you know that I have the highest grades of anyone in this room." James defended with an overconfidence that made Sirius raise an eyebrow.

"Not for long you won't. And since when has grades made someone smart?"Sirius asked not looking away from. what he was working on.

"Since mine surpassed yours."

Sirius responded by banishing one of the parchments at James' face.

Remus laughed at the two of them and returned his, now blank, parchment back to his bed, ignoring James as he complained about his new paper cut.

"Besides," Sirius began, "Remus is smarter than all of us, and, not including Peter, of course, he has the worst grades of us all."

Remus quickly looked away, embarrassed by the complement.

"I suppose, though I can't really consider his grades to be low. You were in like the top five during last year's exams, weren't you? In everything but Potions and Runes?"

It took Remus a little while to realize James was looking for an answer. "Um, well, yeah." Remus flushed. "But you guys were higher than me in everything."

"Except Sirius' transfig score at least." James shrugged, not dissing his friend, simply stating a fact.

"Well, yeah." Remus said humbly

"I think I did pretty good on that exam." Sirius said pouting.

"Only thanks to all those detentions you got." James teased.

"You might just be the only person in the world who passed because of your detention streak." Remus pointed out, causing the others to chuckle.

"And it'll be the major point in my passing this year."

"You better be able to pass on your own next year, or we're going to have some problems." James said quietly, no longer joking. Remus gave him a confused look, neither he nor Sirius seemed to want to talk about it.

"I'll figure it out. I always do."

* * *

A/N) Whew, that was a long one. I'm not to sure how happy I am with this one. But I absolutely love this prank, it shows their growing talent really well i think that they were able to copy the spell from the chocolate frogs, modify it, and put it on the food. I mentioned that the prank would have something about chocolate frogs way back in chapter 73. ^_^ I'm kinda proud of myself for that.

Now for Top Ten Marauder Fanfic Pet Peeves. (I love Peeves! need to put him back in the story soon)

#10 **Sirius using serious puns, or copious amounts of said puns**

# 9**. Marauder's falling in love with Lily's 'imaginary' friends**

# 8**. Any of the Marauders dating Lily**

# 7. **James dating anyone but Lily.**

Okay this one is just personal preference. I like the idea of James doing everything he can to win her heart (even before he truly loves her) and in my opinion the very best way to turn a girl (as smart and self respecting as Lily Evans) away from you is to date a bunch of other girls. I mean I wouldn't want to date someone that has already proven he can't hold a steady girlfriend, and I'm not nearly as smart and stubborn as she is. And I think James is smart enough, despite being extremely over confident, to realize that she isn't going to want to date him when he just broke up with someone else. He was a prat, but he was a smart prat, and an honorable prat.


	83. Rejection

Chapter 83

Rejection

_J: This is the single greatest idea we've ever had. I'll never have room pay attention in class again!_

Remus rolled his eyes as James apparently saw the need to draw a smiley face.

_R: James you never payed attention in class in the first place. And you always have someone to talk to during class._

_S: He's kinda socially dependent. Isn't he._

_J: Hey_

_R: Honestly, I've never seen anyone require so much attention in my entire life. And that includes you._

_J: That's not true._

_S: No point in denying the absolute truth, Jamie._

_J: I am not socially dependent!_

_P: Are too._

_J: Peter! You're supposed to be on my side!_

Peter wrote really fast making his writing very hard to read.

_P: Not that there's anything wrong with it._

_S: Lucky you, you've got Peter on your side. I'm sure he'll be a valuable addition._

_J: Sirius, leave Peter alone._

_S: Sure, sure._

_J: I'm ser... solemn, Sirius._

_R: Nice save._

_J: Thanks._

_S: Moony, what is a primary school?_

There was a pause before the answer came.

_R: It's a school kids go to before they go to a boarding school such as Hogwarts, if they do go to a boarding school. I thought wizards went to primary school too? My arithmancy teacher made it sound like they did anyway._

_J: Most do. We have to learn maths and grammar somewhere don't we? Most purebloods are home schooled though, I was, Peter did, Sirius definitely did._

_R: Oh, okay._

There was a small pause before the conversation continued.

_J: Guess what, Remus._

_R: Umm, Sirius is actually taking notes?_

_P: That's a little far fetched..._

_R: That was kinda the point, I guessed the least case scenario in order to let James know that there is absolutely no way I can guess correctly without a hint._

_S: Excuse me? oh and congratulations, you just got James a detention for disrupting the class by laughing too loudly._

_R: You're welcome, James._

_J: Thanks. _(James drew another smiley face)_ Actually, Moony, that is exactly right. Sirius is actually taking notes. Yeah, I might just die of shock too._

_S: In your face!_

There was silence on all sides for a very long time.

A very long time.

_S: Fine, they are very cruddy notes and they won't help me remember anything at all, in fact most of them don't even pertain to the lesson._

_R: Oh, thank Merlin! I seriously began to think the world was ending, or you had been kidnapped by fairies and replaced with a substitute. That one is a little more likely._

_S: Not nearly as likely as me being hit with a really bad imperius curse._

_R: Oh, I suppose that was an option too._

_J: Really Moony? Fairies?_

_R: It can happen!_

_J: The chances of getting kidnapped by fairies after you're five years old is like nill. You know how many fairies it would take to cart off someone Sirius' size?_

_S: Excuse me? What about my size?_

_J: I meant height, idiot._

_S: Then why didn't you say height?_

_J: I didn't say anything, I wrote it._

_S: You know what I meant!_

_J: Fatty!_

_S: Moron!_

_J: Mutt!_

_R: Um, guys, bell rang._

_S: Loser!_

_J: Idiot!_

_R: James, you used that already._

_S: Hah!_

_J: Git._

_S: James, you've already lost._

_J: Nutter._

_S: Fine you want to continue? I'll continue._

_J: Prat._

_S: Stag._

_J: I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!_

And once again, for a completely different reason there was no new writing appearing on the page as Remus shook his head at it. He wasn't sure what Sirius' new favorite insult was about, but he had looked up other definitions of the word and was surprised that James actually understood it was an insult.

He headed towards the muggle studies classroom knowing the two of them weren't likely to come to him any time soon.

Alice was still in their classroom watching their wrestling match.

Remus greeted her as though there was absolutely nothing weird about the two of them rolling around on the floor, one trying to calm his laughed and the other trying to calm it for him.

The teacher had conveniently left the room.

"Who's winning?" Remus asked casually.

"Well, Sirius isn't trying to fight back, he's too busy trying to breath."

"Alice? You still in here?" Lily Evans asked as she entered the classroom. James immediately leapt to his feet.

"Yep." Alice replied with a smile. She walked over and joined Lily as she left, not even giving James or Sirius a glance, despite the latter still on the floor.

Sirius was watching James, his face unreadable.

James' face had the strangest expression on it, it was like he was actually thinking.

"That's it!" James exclaimed causing Remus to jump.

"Um, what?" Sirius finally stood, dusting himself off.

"I'm gonna do it! What's stopping me anyway? Nothing that's what." He said not pausing for them to give an answer, which was good because they didn't have an answer.

"What are you going on about?" The expression on Sirius' face made it obvious he thought James was going mad.

"I'm really gonna do it this time, Sirius."

"Than do it already." Sirius replied, now rolling his eyes and waiting for James to properly explain himself in his own time.

"I will."

"Do what now?" Remus asked, not as content to wait.

"I'm going to ask Lily Evans out." James finally explained.

For a moment the two of them just looked at him, realizing he was perfectly serious about this.

Sirius was the first to recover. "Are you stupid?"

"Of course not, why wouldn't she want to go out with me?"

"Um, she hates you." Remus replied, trying to be the voice of reason. He already knew it was futile.

"Sure James, I'm sure she'd be ecstatic." Sirius said with no hints of sarcasm in his voice. If Remus hadn't remembered that Sirius had Divination with Evans, he might have thought that Sirius actually meant it.

James didn't connect the dots.

"You don't think it'll hurt my reputation do you? She's kinda, you know, future prefect material." James looked at Sirius, who gave him a surprisingly innocent smile.

"Anyone says anything and we'll deal with them. You know that."

James nodded and ran off to where Evans had disappeared to.

"That was cruel." Remus said to Sirius as they followed James, much more slowly than he'd gone.

Sirius gave a sinister smirk. "I hope she slaps him."

Remus laughed and shook his head peering from behind a corner to watch James' imminent failure.

"Hey Evans." James greeted as though he hadn't just followed her.

Lily turned at the sound of her name, pausing her conversation with Alice.

"Do you need something, Potter." She replied, attempting to be polite, despite how much she disliked him. She didn't like Black after all, but he turned out to be a surprisingly good conversational partner.

Besides maybe she could convince him to lay off Severus.

"I wanted to ask you a question." James said casually, his hands finding the pocket of his cloak.

"And that would be?" Lily asked, her eyes flickering to Alice who'd begun to smile and slowly walk away, eventually ending up where she was pretty sure James' friends were hiding.

It made Lily a little nervous actually.

"Are you busy Saturday? It's a Hogsmeade weekend." He added when she gave him a confused look.

"Why exactly do you want to know?" her eyes narrowed.

"Well, if you're not busy, we could go together." James shrugged, his smile not fading. His confidence made Remus a little jealous, then again... watching him making a fool of himself make him pity James and anyone with a similar blind confidence.

She barely had time to give him an irritated look before there was a crash behind her.

James peered over her shoulder as she quickly turned to see Snape surrounded by fallen school books giving James a look of pure loathing.

Evans apparently didn't see the look on Snape's face, or the look James returned to the Slytherin.

Remus wasn't sure which face held more hatred.

"Sev? Are you okay?" Evans quickly walked over to him to help pick up his things, somehow managing to think he'd dropped them accidently. He didn't move to pick up anything, his eyes didn't leave James'. She began to comment but James interrupted, with his attention directed at Snape he hadn't noticed.

"Here, let me help." He pulled out his wand, Snape instantly responding likewise, but James was faster, a lot faster.

"Appicci."

Evans gave a surprised yelp as everything around Snape instantly clung to him, minus her of course. It was as though he was covered in a ultra sticky quick drying glue.

"Potter!" She said angrily, both of them trying to pull the books off of him, with James just watching clearly happy with his handiwork. "Undo it! Now!" She was now fully facing him standing in between him and Snape, her face getting red with anger.

He even had the nerve to give her a confused look.

"That kinda defeats the purpose of doing it, doesn't it?"

"Potter." She said his name sounding for the world like she'd just threatened him, or at least cussed him out, despite the name sounding perfectly innocent on it's own.

Remus noticed her hand reaching for the wand in her pocket, he also noticed Sirius' eyes also watching the position of Evan's hand, his wand already clutched tightly in his own hand.

"So about Hogsmeade, we could go..." James continued as if Snape had never shown up, she interrupted him, clearly horrified at the idea that he seriously thought she'd still go out with him after that display.

"Potter, I would never go out with you. If you were the last male on the planet I would let the human race die out completely." She said through her teeth. He hand rested on her wand, but she did not pull it out.

Remus was impressed, she was clearly angry enough to hex him, anyone else would have without a second thought, and he was pretty sure he had a good enough picture of her personality to know that it wasn't the thought of breaking the rules that was stopping her.

She knew full well he and Sirius were hiding out somewhere nearby watching, she probably thought that Peter was with them and she knew that they would get involved if she tried anything.

Through her anger she still had enough reason to realize that this was not a fight she could win, and good enough judgment to not try anyway.

He was very impressed actually. But the moment they started to leave, talking about going to Madam Pomfrey and McGonagall, he walked over to James and helped his friend with his very first rejection.

He was impressed with Evan's self control, but James was his friend, and he would always side with James. Even though said friend was at the moment trying his hardest to comprehend how he of all people could have been rejected by a girl.

Sirius' uncontrollable laughter wasn't helping him understand at all.

* * *

A/N) Awww, it's true love. ^_^ lol

Anyways, my beta is really busy this week, and I didn't want to make y'all wait this long so I kinda jumped the gun a little, I'll reupload the chapter with any corrections he gives me when he gets a chance.

I didn't like the formatting in the beginning at all, if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them because I love the note passing stuff, it's so much fun to write. I tried to avoid using bold or underline to identify each of them because when ever I read someone else's not passing (for lack of a better term) stories those always annoyed me because I'd forget who was bold and who was bold and italics and it was just a mess. So I think I did a good job avoiding that. But it feels really crammed in there when it comes to formatting. And I can't think of how to fix it.

Now for Top Ten Marauder Fanfic Pet Peeves.

#10 **Sirius using serious puns, or copious amounts of said puns**

# 9**. Marauder's falling in love with Lily's 'imaginary' friends**

# 8**. Any of the Marauders dating Lily**

# 7. **James dating anyone but** **Lily.**

# 6. **Sirius' dad drunk/lazy/out of the job/ or otherwise cliche abusive.**

I'm not demeaning the seriousness of any of these things in real life at all. But in stories they're overused and are usually little more than a means to add drama. I have found a few good ones, but usually they are good in spite of this trope, rather than because of this trope. I usually find it conflicts with cannon even. First of all the lazy or out of the job excuses... the Blacks had solid silver cups... I don't need to elaborate further. As for the drunk, this is usually relatively believable as an excuse, wizards do seem to drink a lot, until it actually shows the abuse. Why on earth would a wizard talented enough to put nearly ever protective charm known to wizard kind need to punch and/or kick his underage son... yeah, Wilburga seems to be the only one to actually perform any magical abuse on Sirius, every time his dad does it, he does it the muggle way. Weird considering, according to Sirius, he was just as prejudiced against muggles as Voldemort.

Besides Sirius hardly even mentioned his father when complaining about his family. Why would this be if Orion was the one doing the most damage? It isn't like Sirius is afraid of him after he's already dead.

I think making either of them physically abuse him regularly is a stretch of cannon considering his personality, but when all these other things add up, it's pretty annoying.

**Repeat, I am not demeaning the seriousness of abuse in real life. **Just in fiction.


	84. Sirius' First Date

Chapter 84

Sirius' First Date

"I don't understand" James complained for the fiftieth time. "Why won't she go out with me?"

"Do your homework." Remus said irritably. He'd been comforting, he'd tried to get James to understand for about two hours, before it just got annoying.

He'd even tried reminding James that he wouldn't go out with a girl that hexed Sirius or himself, but James counter to that was simply, "But I'm way better than any of them." That was when Remus quit. There was absolutely no way to argue with someone who actually thought that that was a valid argument.

It didn't help that Sirius was too busy going back and forth from snickering and outright laughing hysterically to actually help. Though he couldn't blame him really, James certainly had made a fool of himself, and Sirius wasn't one to let an opportunity like that pass by.

"But..."

"Just do your homework."

James did as he was told, grumbling the entire time.

"I'd want to go out with me."

"You know what the solution is then?" Sirius said keeping his eyes on his essay to hide his smirk.

"What?"

"You'll just have to invent a cloning spell. That way you can marry yourself." Sirius answered.

Any sympathy Remus had for James died right there, and there was nothing to prevent the near explosion of laughter that came out from both him and Peter.

James didn't laugh, he glared at Sirius who was now looking at him with this most evil grin.

"You're really enjoying this. Aren't you."

"Completely and utterly ecstatic really." Sirius' smirk changed into an innocent smile before returning. "You have no idea how great it is to find something that you completely suck at."

"Excuse me? I do not suck at it." James defended trying his best to ignore the fact that Peter just fell of his bed in his fit of laughter.

"No, mate, you really, really suck. That was the single worst display of charm I have ever seen. And I had to watch Lucius flirting with Cissy."

"Don't compare me to Malfoy! There isn't even a comparison there!" James looked highly offended, glad that at least Remus had begun to breath again.

"That's true, at least Malfoy didn't have enough sheer stupidity as to hex her best friend while asking her out."

Remus' attempt to control himself failed miserably, and James had gone beet red.

"L- Like you could do any better."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "I'm not stupid enough to attempt to go out Lily Evans. Any other girl though... except Alice, I don't want to ruin Frank's chances." The confidence in his voice was obvious.

"Prove it." James simply said, a smile creeping onto his face.

"How exactly do I do that in a way that doesn't end with me completely wasting the Hogsmeade weekend with some bird?"

"Just ask her to kiss you." James shrugged liking this idea more and more.

"Eww, no." Sirius' reaction was immediate. An involuntary shudder shook him and for some strange reason he felt the need to brush his teeth all over again. Twice.

"Wuss."

"Am "

"You so are."

"Are not. I just think girls suck."

"Would you rather ask a guy?"

"James, that's just nasty."

"You're not getting out of it. You think you're so great, well it's time to prove it."

Sirius didn't get out of bed. He opened his mouth to speak but James interrupted.

"And you're not going to make a joke out of it, so Remus doesn't count."

"Darn it!"

Remus' chuckles died. "Wait, what?"

"Do I have to?" Sirius whined.

"Yes."

"I hate you so much." Finally Sirius moved off the bed. "But I'm not bloody kissing anyone."

"Frankly, I don't think you're getting a date for Saturday either." They left the dorm room, Remus and Peter looked at each other for a moment, neither saying anything before both got up and ran to the door.

They couldn't miss this for the world.

"James, at least pick someone who's not a complete stalker!" Remus could hear Sirius complain as he descended the stairs.

"Fine then. Marie Bell. She's nice."

"I guess."

Remus came down the stairs just in time to see Sirius shutter and grimace before toughening up and hiding his complete horror at the very idea and walking over to her.

"What's he saying?" James asked, unable to hear though the chatter in the common room.

"Just greeting her." Remus answered.

"He'll chicken out."

Remus just shook his head and drowned out the other conversations in the room, focusing only on what Sirius and the fifth year Remus hardly even knew were saying.

"Did you need something, Sirius?" She asked, her voice already a little flustered. Did James really think that she'd turn Sirius down. he could count on one hand the number of people he regularly crossed paths with that would turn Sirius Black down for a date. Naturally that number didn't include Slytherins, but it did include Hufflepuffs and the few Ravenclaws Remus had met.

"Yeah, you see my friend, James," he pointed at them, though she didn't look, "he sorta dared me. Except it's less of a dare and more like mentally threatened to push me out a window." Sirius shrugged, and instantly Remus knew that the girl wasn't really listening.

She was turned away from him, but Remus could practically see the dazed look in her eyes anyway. He laughed.

"What? Did she turn him down already?"

"James, she's not going to turn him down. She's probably already deciding what to name their first child."

"How do you know?"

Remus wasn't completely listening, still trying to concentrate on what Sirius was saying.

"Wow, he's got guts. He's straight up telling her that it's just a dare and he wouldn't be doing it otherwise."

"Seriously?"

"Yep."

"And you still think she's going to agree?"

"Yep."

"No fair."

"Agreed."

"You think she would have gone out with me if I hadn't attacked Snivellus?"

"Nah, she was about to tell you off before he showed up."

"Well, that makes me feel a little better, I think."

"There, he's asking her now." Remus replied. He didn't even have to tell James her answer because a second later she squealed and hugged him (at this moment Sirius looked like he was being tortured.) Remus laughed as Sirius made sure she understood that this was a one time thing, and it would never happen again, and it most certainly did not make her his girlfriend. She shrugged, clearly not caring in the slightest and watched him dreamily as he walked back to James and Remus.

"Happy now?" He asked, looking for all the world like he'd just been forced to swallow a flobberworm.

"I hate you so much." James responded, walking up to the dorm, presumably to pout some more.

"You think it would be mean to pretend to get sick Saturday?" Sirius asked Remus still a little tense from her unexpected, and highly unwanted hug.

"Very."

"Darn it."

Why is it that when you're dreading something time seems to speed up so the very thing you were dreading seems to smack you in the face when it arrives.

Sirius was sulking as he waited in the three broomsticks for the fifth year girl. He'd glared at James the entire time, until James had the lovely idea that Sirius should probably meet her alone and they left the pub. At least Remus was polite enough to look hesitant about the idea.

James at the moment was debating between spying on Sirius, or going to find Evans. It was a difficult debate, but in the end he decided on going to find Evans and then spying on Sirius. He was pretty good at compromising.

Remus decided that he and Peter would do just fine by themselves and went to Honeydukes, no girls involved.

Neither of them really had any money to buy anything, but just looking through the sweetshop was good enough in Remus' opinion. There was always something new, even though he'd just been here three days ago. The secret passages to Hogsmeade were, in Remus' opinion, the coolest things they'd ever found in Hogwarts.

"Look at this, Remus." Peter called through the crowd and Remus made his way over to him. "They have some new flavors."

"How can Bertie Bott's get new flavors? I thought they were supposed to have every flavor already?" Remus looked at him curiously, Peter just shrugged and moved on.

"What do you think the others are doing?" Peter asked, picking up some random piece of candy, looking it over a little bit, and putting it right back down.

"Well, it sounds like James is going to go harass Evans, and Sirius is probably trying to keep from ripping his hair out."

"Why doesn't Sirius like girls?" Peter asked, he'd been wondering all week. He didn't have a problem with them, he even thought some of them were pretty, James obviously didn't mind girls either, Remus' opinion on them were still unclear.

Remus laughed. "It's not that Sirius doesn't like girls, Sirius doesn't have a problem with girls in general, he acts just fine around Alice, and McGonagall is his favorite teacher. It just takes him a little longer for him to get used to being around them."

"Why?"

"I think he's scared of them a little bit, you know. Sirius doesn't really know very many decent girls. Between his mum and his cousins his first impressions of the female sex isn't very good. On the male side all he really had was Regulus and his dad, his dad's never really been a big part in his life to begin with, and Regulus hasn't done much more than just ignore him the whole time, plus he has us. The closest thing he has to a female acquaintance is Alice, and we don't talk to her a whole lot. And she will probably talk to us even less if James keeps this up.

"Why do you think James likes Evans so much?" Remus asked Peter this time as they left the busy shop heading in no particular direction. Peter was a little surprised at being asked for his opinion.

"I- um, I think it might have started because of what she said about Sirius previously. But now I think he just doesn't like being told no."

"That's true. He probably doesn't get refused very often."

"It's really rare." Peter smiled a little, he liked having someone agree with him, it wasn't something that happened very often. "And he'll keep asking and asking until he gets what he wants. He always does, and he always gets what he wants too. She'll have to go out with him eventually, or he'll drive her all the way to St. Mungo's insanity ward."

Remus laughed. "She probably would have been better off if she'd just agreed to go with him until she annoyed him to death."

"Most definitely." Peter agreed. The two of them laughing as they walked down the street.

Until Remus saw where they were headed. He quickly turned around and briskly walked in the other direction, not saying anything.

"What's wrong?" Peter asked, he had to nearly jog to keep up now.

"Nothing." Remus answered, a little more harsh than he intended.

Peter turned around to see what the problem was, but all he saw was a rickety old house. He vaguely recalled it's name to be the Shrieking Shack. He definitely remember that it was haunted.

It would seem as though Remus was afraid of ghosts.

* * *

A/N) O_O! WHAT!

err I probably should explain that.

So the last few chapters of Prisoner of Azkaban just came out on pottermore... including a full biography on Remus.

So as I'm reading this thing my mind goes from WHAT! to SHOOT to CRAP! to Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww to YES I WAS RIGHT! to Oh man! to another awwwwwwww. Then another I'm right! to Crap what am I gonna do now. Finally ending with 'it's okay, it's just fan fiction, no one expects it to be accurate... Right? Right?

Remus' dad's name doesn't start with a J? Dude I'm not even joking, that's more surprising to me the SNAPE KILLS DUMBLEDORE! And the plot twist wasn't even spoiled for me. With Rowling's habbit of giving male characters their father's name as a middle name I thought a J name was guaranteed. But Lyall? That's just, well that's gonna be hard to get through my head. And naturally I have go and change all the John and Hanna's to Lyall and Hope. Hope's not too bad. Lyall's unique, but odd.

I was right in that John... er Lyall had a prejudice against werewolves so Point for me, also that Remus' mum was a muggle, another point for me. Oh and the Marauders found out about Moony's furry little problem in second year. Three points for me. ^_^ Yay.

It removed something I'd planned to have in the plot later though. I was going to have Remus' dad die... but nope he was still alive after Voldie's downfall. Oh well, I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do with that yet anyway.

The story of how Remus and Tonks started falling for each other however made me fangirl squeal so hard it's a good thing I'm home alone at the moment. ^_^ So cute!

"Remus Lupin was posthumously awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class, the first werewolf ever to be accorded this honour. The example of his life and death did much to lift the stigma on werewolves. He was never forgotten by anyone who knew him: a brave, kind man who did the best he could in very difficult circumstances and who helped many more than he ever realized."

OMG BEST ENDING TO A BIOGRAPHY EVER!

Sorry. I replaced this chapter's top ten with a fan squeal about the new Pottermore chapters. Next time i'll have a top ten.


	85. Puberty

A/N) Just a warning there's some relatively more mature content in this chapter, nothing worse than puberty or feminine monthly cycles but I thought a warning was in order anyway. This is probably the only chapter thus far that makes this story earn it's T rating.

Chapter 85

Puberty

"What's wrong, James? It's not like a Gryffindor to run with his tail between his legs!" Was the first thing Remus heard when he and Peter returned to Hogwarts grounds from the trip to Hogsmeade.

It didn't take him long to figure out that Sirius and James had returned before them, but even then he wasn't exactly expecting what he saw.

Sirius had chased James up a tree.

Literally,

Yeah...

Needless to say the pair of them watched in stunned silence as Sirius, who for some reason did not want to climb said tree, yelled at James from the ground, and Remus had the distinct impression of a dog barking at a tree'd cat.

"Actually the view's kinda nice up here, I think I'll stay for awhile." James called down in response to Sirius' demands to "come down so I can kill you"'

"You better enjoy it while you can, because the moment your feet hit the ground you'll only be seeing things through a big, black eye!"

"I assume the date didn't go well." Remus said casually. Sirius gave a curse that was usually only reserved for Snape, though Slughorn had been called that once before also.

"Never again, Moony. Never again."

Moony raised an eyebrow. "That bad?"

"Why are girls so clingy?!" Sirius cried loudly, causing Remus to wince and his ears to ring.

Remus shrugged. "Because you're pretty."

"Aww, thanks. You're kinda pretty yourself, Moony." Sirius smiled at him and messed up his hair, before returning to verbally abuse James.

Peter looked confused, but Remus simply rolled his eyes. "Are you blind?" He asked knowing full well he was far from pretty.

Sirius gave him a totally innocent look. "Of course not." Remus began to retort, but Sirius cut him off. "Scars are hot."

"Are you flirting with Remus?" James asked from the tree.

"You want a few scars to match!" Sirius called back up.

"No."

"Then you better get down here right now, before I decide to do some permanent damage!"

"I think I'm good."

"Why don't you just climb up after him?" Remus asked, choosing to ignore Sirius' previous teasing. Unlike James, Remus knew Sirius was simply teasing him. It wasn't the first time Sirius had 'flirted' with him, Sirius' humor was strange like that. The first time he'd been more than a little freaked out, and he'd kinda ran away. Later when he got up the nerve to return to the dorm Sirius had explained (despite laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face) that he'd recently heard a rumor about the two of them and it had given him ideas. Remus had retorted by smacking him over the head with a book. It was however the first time he'd done it around someone else, thus the reason for James confusion.

As much as Remus pretended to be annoyed by it, he had to admit it was pretty funny.

"He'd just jump down and run off. Easier for me to wait for him to come down or starve to death."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"See, I can be smart when I want too."

"I dunno, I might need a little more proof to believe that."

"I don't know that I can provide more proof." Sirius complained, his eyes following James as the latter tried to find a more comfortable branch to sit on.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"You know you'd totally be the chick." Sirius smirked his eyes moving from James only long enough so that he could see Remus' reaction.

"Excuse me? Who's the one who needs to take an hour and a half long shower in the morning? Who's the one that spends twenty minutes in the morning doing his hair? What exactly are you basing this assumption on?"

"The week you spend feeling like utter crap once a month."

Remus felt like one of those characters on the Saturday morning cartoons whose jaw hit the floor and somehow ended up on the top of the screen just so that it could hit him in the head.

"You- I-." he stammered trying to find the ability to string two words together again. He only succeeded in making Sirius laugh, James laughter could also be heard from the tree. Remus' face turned beat red. Sirius clutched the stitch in his side as he laughed, he'd completely forgotten how to breath.

"I- don't- Ewww. Sirius!" Remus managed to choke out entirely disgusted by the whole thing. He threw a book at Sirius, a small paperback book that accomplished nothing. "You are! Urh! Why am I even your friend!"

When Sirius' laugh didn't subside he stormed back to the castle, not even bothering to pick up the book and take it back with him.

It was a full half hour before the three of them managed to make it back up to the tower. Sirius had been true to his word and James went straight to the bathroom to heal his black eye.

Peter was still snickering a little bit, though Remus chose to think it was because of Sirius and James fight.

"Moony." Sirius said innocently.

"I have no desire to talk to you at the moment." Remus didn't even look up from his book.

"You should have seen it, James fell out of the tree." Sirius continued anyway, hoping to distract his friend, knowing Remus couldn't hold a grudge to save his life.

"I'm going to pretend it was because he's clumsy."

"James isn't clumsy."

"Shut up, Peter!" Remus retorted quickly, not at all regretting scaring the younger boy. He'd been laughing too.

"Aww, Moony's sad. Did you eat your prescribed amount of chocolate today?" Sirius said with an over-the-top innocent smile on his face.

He didn't know how Sirius did it, he really didn't. As mad as Remus wanted to be with him, as much as Remus wanted to give him the silent treatment he just couldn't do it. Remus just couldn't fight the smile as he replied "no."

Sirius kindly held back his laughter as Remus reached for his bag of chocolate frogs.

James finally managed to exit the bathroom, black eye mostly gone, but you could still tell it had been there.

"Cuts are easier to heal than bruises." He complained.

"Perfect." Sirius was leaning against his four poster examining his handiwork on James' face.

Remus looked between the two of them, James hadn't moved from the bathroom doorway and was now glowering at Sirius.

"Sirius, stand up." He said suddenly.

Sirius gave him a confused look before looking around him, primarily at his feet. "I am standing."

"No, I mean stand up straight."

Sirius did as he was told, thoroughly confused by the order.

"Go over by James."

Sirius wasn't especially eager to comply, as James still looked ready to give him a matching eye, though Moony's odd behavior distracted the future-stag a little, so he deemed it safe. Remus stood up, looking at the two.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

"Oh, nothing." Remus gave a small smile, as well as a chuckle. "Sirius is taller than you."

Both of them looked at each other. They responded at the same time.

"What? No he's not."

"What? No I'm not."

"Yep, he totally surpassed you. I'd say about half an inch. What do you think, Peter?"

Peter looked a little nervous, but he moved to where Remus was standing to have a better look.

"You're right. That's weird, I could have sworn James was taller."

"James was taller. But now Sirius is taller." Remus shrugged.

James snickered. "Our little Siri is growing up." He baby talked, giving Sirius a noogie. Naturally he received a hard elbow in the stomach as well as a few choice curse words for his trouble.

"You messed up my hair," he complained, now trying to fix it.

"Sorry, didn't mean to damage your work of art." James rolled his eyes, he was rubbing his new sore spot and didn't seem very apologetic. "Don't worry I'll get you back when your voice starts to crack."

"At least I try." Sirius retaliated referring to his, so called work of art, giving James unruly locks a vexing look.

"I gave up trying when I was eight." James shrugged, not caring in the slightest how his hair looked. "As long as it doesn't look like I just got out of bed I really couldn't care less."

"You're completely hopeless, you know that?" Sirius peeked in the bathroom mirror to ensure his hair was reasonably fixed.

"I tried asking out Evans again."

Sirius just sighed. "Well at least your Hogsmeade weekend sucked as much as mine."

"Who said she turned me down?" James had the slightest pout on his face.

"Logic."

"There is no reason she shouldn't like me! I'm smart, I'm gorgeous, I'm popular, I'm a great Quidditch player..." James continued, counting all his strengths.

"You're humble." Sirius added sarcastically, unsurprisingly James didn't catch the sarcasm.

"I'm humble," he added.

"James, do you even know the definition of humble?" Remus asked moving to lay on his bed again.

"Sure I do."

"I seriously doubt that, James. I seriously doubt that."

"The day Lily Evans goes out with you is the day they prove nargles actually exist." Sirius mocked.

"Well they better find some proof soon, because Lily Evans will go out with me. No one can resist the awesomeness that is me for long." He said confidently, determination in his eyes.

Sirius shook his head. "I'm not sure whether this is going to be hilarious, or just plain sad."

* * *

A/N) I loved this chapter. It was really funny. Poor Remus and his time of the month. lol Can't have a true Marauders story this long with out some reference to Remus and his monthly cycle.

Torturing Sirius is fun too.

BTW: I need a beta. Someone who can do it relatively quickly, preferably with experience, and can help with the whole brit-speak thing. Obviously I'm not British, I don't use british words/phrases all I really know is bloody, git, snog (sort of, I'm not exactly sure how much is involved with a snog because every time you see it it's interrupted) bird (I hope), and er wanker (which I do not intend to use in this story.)

My other beta is good but doesn't help in the least with British phrases, as he's also American.

I don't know if beta's are usually paid, but I have no money, like at all, so if payment is required then I will decline no matter how much I need one. Sorry, I wish I could but I really can't. I'll be nice, and I take constructive criticism really well, and even non-constructive criticism fairly well. Though that kinda defeats the purpose of a beta.

I just want this story to be the best it can possibly be, and since you guys have been reading it for this long I figured you know ways to make it better.

Despite trying not to make a super long author's note here's the next in the top ten Marauder story pet peeves.

#10 **Sirius using serious puns, or copious amounts of said puns**

# 9**. Marauder's falling in love with Lily's 'imaginary' friends**

# 8**. Any of the Marauders dating Lily**

# 7. **James dating anyone but** **Lily.**

# 6. **Sirius' dad drunk/lazy/out of the job/ or otherwise cliche abusive.**

# 5. **James or Sirius being complete idiots Marauders **

Also included is (but not limited to) them apparently not knowing how to use healing spells and Lily having to be the healer of the group despite not joining till seventh year, though that's more popular in stories that begin in their seventh year. Just because she's the only chick does not mean she's the only one who can heal them!

Sorry.

This one isn't that popular as most people make them nigh perfect, also irritating but not enough to make it on this list (as I'm having trouble keeping James from being perfect. I have not forgotten that he was a bully, I swear.), but when I find it I instantly stop reading. It's more popular with Sirius than James, but he sometimes gets the treatment too. They were both really talented in school, it was commented on a lot. I know there's a difference between talent and being smart, thus the difference between Sirius and James and Remus, the former two are more talented while the latter is really smart. But they weren't just talented they were smart too. Not much more to say about this one as it's not real popular.

Thanks for the time.

EvelynWn


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